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How industries migrate when agglomeration economies are important

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Author Info
Thomas J. Holmes

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Abstract

The Economics of QWERTY suggests that historical accidents can trap economies in inefficient equilibria. This paper suggests that such accidents do not have the force that proponents claim. The paper presents a mechanism that may unravel a locational advantage caused by an historical accident. In the model, there are agglomeration benefits from concentrating industry in a particular location because it enables a large variety of local suppliers to emerge. Firms differ by the extent to which they purchase from local suppliers. Low-tier firms purchase little; high-tier firms purchase more. When the industry migrates, the lowest-tier products move first.

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File URL: http://minneapolisfed.org/research/sr/sr219.pdf
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Paper provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in its series Staff Report with number 219.

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Date of creation: 1996
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmsr:219

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Keywords: Industrial location

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Chari, V V & Hopenhayn, Hugo, 1991. "Vintage Human Capital, Growth, and the Diffusion of New Technology," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(6), pages 1142-65, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Joseph Farrell & Garth Saloner, 1985. "Standardization, Compatibility, and Innovation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(1), pages 70-83, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Abdel-Rahman, H. M., 1988. "Product differentiation, monopolistic competition and city size," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 69-86, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Arthur, W Brian, 1989. "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(394), pages 116-31, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Stokey, Nancy L, 1988. "Learning by Doing and the Introduction of New Goods," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(4), pages 701-17, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Spence, Michael, 1976. "Product Selection, Fixed Costs, and Monopolistic Competition," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(2), pages 217-35, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Rauch, James E, 1993. "Does History Matter Only When It Matters Little? The Case of City-Industry Location," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 108(3), pages 843-67, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. David, Paul A, 1985. "Clio and the Economics of QWERTY," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 332-37, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Hekman, John S, 1980. "The Product Cycle and New England Textiles," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 94(4), pages 697-717, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Liebowitz, S J & Margolis, Stephen E, 1990. "The Fable of the Keys," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(1), pages 1-25, April.
  11. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-99, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Thomas Holmes, 2004. "EconomicDynamics Interviews Thomas Holmes on Dynamic Economic Geography," EconomicDynamics Newsletter, Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 6(1), November. [Downloadable!]
  2. Thomas J. Holmes, 2004. "Step-by-step Migrations," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(1), pages 52-68, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Kai A. Konrad & Dan Kovenock, 2008. "Competition for FDI with vintage investment and agglomeration advantages," Purdue University Economics Working Papers 1210, Purdue University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Thomas J. Holmes, 1996. "Step-by-step migration to efficient agglomerations," Staff Report 221, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  5. Hideo Konishi, 1999. "Formation of Hub Cities: Transportation Cost Advantage and Population Agglomeration," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 448, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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