IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jecsur/v38y2024i1p168-200.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unraveling urban advantages—A meta‐analysis of agglomeration economies

Author

Listed:
  • Stuart Donovan
  • Thomas de Graaff
  • Henri L. F. de Groot
  • Carl C. Koopmans

Abstract

A large body of empirical literature considers the productive advantages of cities, or “agglomeration economies.” We present a meta‐analysis of this literature that draws on 6684 agglomeration elasticities from 294 studies spanning 54 countries and six decades. We find that elasticities are likely to lie in the range 0.015–0.039 and, like earlier reviews, that the controls enabled by detailed data are associated with smaller estimates. We make five main contributions: First, we find evidence that publication selection imparts a positive bias to the literature; second, we adopt novel methods that tend to yield more precise parameter estimates than conventional approaches; third, unlike earlier reviews, we do not find large differences between most countries nor an association with national income; fourth, we report new associations, for example between elasticities and the spatial scope of agglomeration, which may reflect underlying microeconomic channels; and fifth, we find evidence that elasticities for manufacturing sectors have fallen in recent decades, possibly due to lower freight costs and stricter environmental regulations.

Suggested Citation

  • Stuart Donovan & Thomas de Graaff & Henri L. F. de Groot & Carl C. Koopmans, 2024. "Unraveling urban advantages—A meta‐analysis of agglomeration economies," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 168-200, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jecsur:v:38:y:2024:i:1:p:168-200
    DOI: 10.1111/joes.12543
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12543
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joes.12543?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maré, David C. & Graham, Daniel J., 2013. "Agglomeration elasticities and firm heterogeneity," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 44-56.
    2. Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March.
    3. Briant, A. & Combes, P.-P. & Lafourcade, M., 2010. "Dots to boxes: Do the size and shape of spatial units jeopardize economic geography estimations?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 287-302, May.
    4. John P. A. Ioannidis & T. D. Stanley & Hristos Doucouliagos, 2017. "The Power of Bias in Economics Research," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(605), pages 236-265, October.
    5. Rice, Patricia & Venables, Anthony J. & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2006. "Spatial determinants of productivity: Analysis for the regions of Great Britain," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 727-752, November.
    6. Andrew Bell & Malcolm Fairbrother & Kelvyn Jones, 2019. "Fixed and random effects models: making an informed choice," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 1051-1074, March.
    7. Simon N. Wood, 2020. "Rejoinder on: Inference and computation with Generalized Additive Models and their extensions," TEST: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 29(2), pages 354-358, June.
    8. Fally, Thibault & Paillacar, Rodrigo & Terra, Cristina, 2010. "Economic geography and wages in Brazil: Evidence from micro-data," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 155-168, January.
    9. Edward L. Glaeser & Janet E. Kohlhase, 2004. "Cities, regions and the decline of transport costs," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Raymond J. G. M. Florax & David A. Plane (ed.), Fifty Years of Regional Science, pages 197-228, Springer.
    10. Helen Louri, 1988. "Urban Growth and Productivity: The Case of Greece," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 25(5), pages 433-438, October.
    11. Neal E. Duffy, 1988. "Returns to Scale Behavior and Manufacturing Agglomeration Economies in U.S. Urban Areas," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 18(3), pages 47-54, Fall.
    12. Henderson, J. Vernon, 1986. "Efficiency of resource usage and city size," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 47-70, January.
    13. Diego Puga, 2010. "The Magnitude And Causes Of Agglomeration Economies," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 203-219, February.
    14. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Pietrostefani, Elisabetta, 2019. "The economic effects of density: A synthesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 93-107.
    15. Lewis Dijkstra & Enrique Garcilazo & Philip McCann, 2013. "The Economic Performance of European Cities and City Regions: Myths and Realities," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 334-354, March.
    16. De Bruyne, Karolien, 2009. "Explaining the Location of Economic Activity. Is there a Spatial Employment Structure in Belgium?," Working Papers 2009/28, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    17. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Duranton, Gilles & Gobillon, Laurent, 2008. "Spatial wage disparities: Sorting matters!," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 723-742, March.
    18. Martin Andersson & Johan Klaesson & Johan P. Larsson, 2016. "How Local are Spatial Density Externalities? Neighbourhood Effects in Agglomeration Economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 1082-1095, June.
    19. Tabuchi, Takatoshi, 1986. "Urban agglomeration, capital augmenting technology, and labor market equilibrium," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 211-228, September.
    20. Laura Hering & Sandra Poncet, 2010. "Market Access and Individual Wages: Evidence from China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 145-159, February.
    21. Stuart S. Rosenthal & William C. Strange, 2020. "How Close Is Close? The Spatial Reach of Agglomeration Economies," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 27-49, Summer.
    22. Ehrl, Philipp, 2013. "Agglomeration economies with consistent productivity estimates," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 751-763.
    23. Julio Martínez-Galarraga & Elisenda Paluzie & Jordi Pons & Daniel A. Tirado-Fabregat, 2008. "Agglomeration and labour productivity in Spain over the long term," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 2(3), pages 195-212, October.
    24. Gerard H Dericks & Hans R A Koster, 2021. "The billion pound drop: the Blitz and agglomeration economies in London [The economics of density: evidence from the Berlin wall]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(6), pages 869-897.
    25. Laird, James J. & Venables, Anthony J., 2017. "Transport investment and economic performance: A framework for project appraisal," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-11.
    26. Henri L.F. de Groot & Gerard Marlet & Coen Teulings & Wouter Vermeulen, 2015. "Cities and the Urban Land Premium," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16515.
    27. Licia Ferranna & Margherita Gerolimetto & Stefano Magrini, 2016. "Urban Governance Structure and Wage Disparities across US Metropolitan Areas," Working Papers 2016:26, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    28. Gilles Duranton, 2007. "From cities to productivity and growth in developing countries," Working Papers tecipa-306, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    29. Sebastian Gechert & Tomas Havranek & Zuzana Irsova & Dominika Kolcunova, 2022. "Measuring Capital-Labor Substitution: The Importance of Method Choices and Publication Bias," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 55-82, July.
    30. Sebastian Gechert & Tomas Havranek & Zuzana Irsova & Dominika Kolcunova, 2022. "Measuring Capital-Labor Substitution: The Importance of Method Choices and Publication Bias," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 55-82, July.
    31. repec:hoo:wpaper:e-93-6 is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Laurent Gobillon, 2011. "The identification of agglomeration economies," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 253-266, March.
    33. Feser, Edward J., 2001. "A flexible test for agglomeration economies in two US manufacturing industries," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 1-19, February.
    34. Edward L. Glaeser & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto, 2010. "Did the Death of Distance Hurt Detroit and Help New York?," NBER Chapters, in: Agglomeration Economics, pages 303-337, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    35. Stuart Donovan & Arthur Grimes & David C. Maré, 2020. "Modelling urban development in New Zealand," Working Papers 20_07, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    36. Gilles Duranton, 2016. "Agglomeration Effects In Colombia," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 210-238, March.
    37. repec:fth:stanho:e-93-6 is not listed on IDEAS
    38. Melo, Patricia C. & Graham, Daniel J. & Noland, Robert B., 2009. "A meta-analysis of estimates of urban agglomeration economies," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 332-342, May.
    39. Isaiah Andrews & Maximilian Kasy, 2019. "Identification of and Correction for Publication Bias," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(8), pages 2766-2794, August.
    40. Yung Joon Lee & Hyoungsoo Zang, 1998. "Urbanisation and Regional Productivity in Korean Manufacturing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 35(11), pages 2085-2099, November.
    41. Gilles Duranton, 2008. "Viewpoint: From cities to productivity and growth in developing countries," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 41(3), pages 689-736, August.
    42. Simon N. Wood, 2020. "Inference and computation with generalized additive models and their extensions," TEST: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 29(2), pages 307-339, June.
    43. Wheeler, Christopher H, 2001. "Search, Sorting, and Urban Agglomeration," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(4), pages 879-899, October.
    44. Rudiger Ahrend & Emily Farchy & Ioannis Kaplanis & Alexander C. Lembcke, 2014. "What Makes Cities More Productive? Evidence on the Role of Urban Governance from Five OECD Countries," OECD Regional Development Working Papers 2014/5, OECD Publishing.
    45. repec:hal:journl:hal-04246943 is not listed on IDEAS
    46. Paul Verstraten & Gerard Verweij & Peter J. Zwaneveld, 2019. "Complexities in the spatial scope of agglomeration economies," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 29-55, January.
    47. Donovan, Stuart & de Graaff, Thomas & Grimes, Arthur & de Groot, Henri L.F. & Maré, David C., 2022. "Cities with forking paths? Agglomeration economies in New Zealand 1976–2018," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    48. Katiuscia Lavoratori & Davide Castellani, 2021. "Too close for comfort? Microgeography of agglomeration economies in the United Kingdom," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 1002-1028, November.
    49. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    50. W. Reed Walker, 2011. "Environmental Regulation and Labor Reallocation: Evidence from the Clean Air Act," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 442-447, May.
    51. Tomáš Havránek & T. D. Stanley & Hristos Doucouliagos & Pedro Bom & Jerome Geyer‐Klingeberg & Ichiro Iwasaki & W. Robert Reed & Katja Rost & R. C. M. van Aert, 2020. "Reporting Guidelines For Meta‐Analysis In Economics," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 469-475, July.
    52. Ronald L. Moomaw, 1981. "Productivity and City Size: A Critique of the Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 96(4), pages 675-688.
    53. Leo Sveikauskas, 1975. "The Productivity of Cities," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 89(3), pages 393-413.
    54. Johan Håkansson & Gunnar Isacsson, 2019. "The spatial extent of agglomeration economies across the wage earnings distribution," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 281-301, March.
    55. Mehmet Burak Turgut, 2014. "Regional Economic Activity in Turkey: A New Economic Geography Approach," Working Papers 2014/5, Turkish Economic Association.
    56. Daniel Graham, 2000. "Spatial Variation in Labour Productivity in British Manufacturing," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 323-341.
    57. Jonathan Jones, 2017. "Agglomeration economies and the location of foreign direct investment: A meta-analysis," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 731-757, November.
    58. Rachael Meager, 2019. "Understanding the Average Impact of Microcredit Expansions: A Bayesian Hierarchical Analysis of Seven Randomized Experiments," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 57-91, January.
    59. Chris Doucouliagos & T.D. Stanley, 2013. "Are All Economic Facts Greatly Exaggerated? Theory Competition And Selectivity," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 316-339, April.
    60. Meager, Rachael, 2019. "Understanding the average impact of microcredit expansions: a Bayesian hierarchical analysis of seven randomized experiments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88190, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Donovan, Stuart & de Graaff, Thomas & Grimes, Arthur & de Groot, Henri L.F. & Maré, David C., 2022. "Cities with forking paths? Agglomeration economies in New Zealand 1976–2018," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Jiang, Guohai & Chen, Fuzhong & Gu, Mengyi, 2025. "Supply chain digitization and energy resilience: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Pietrostefani, Elisabetta, 2019. "The economic effects of density: A synthesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 93-107.
    2. Graham, Daniel J. & Gibbons, Stephen, 2019. "Quantifying Wider Economic Impacts of agglomeration for transport appraisal: Existing evidence and future directions," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Jordy Meekes & Wolter H. J. Hassink, 2023. "Endogenous local labour markets, regional aggregation and agglomeration economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 13-25, January.
    4. Paul Verstraten & Gerard Verweij & Peter Zwaneveld, 2018. "Why do wages grow faster in urban areas? Sorting of high potentials matters," CPB Discussion Paper 377, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    5. Paul Verstraten & Gerard Verweij & Peter Zwaneveld, 2018. "Why do wages grow faster in urban areas? Sorting of high potentials matters," CPB Discussion Paper 377.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    6. Grover, Arti & Lall, Somik & Timmis, Jonathan, 2023. "Agglomeration economies in developing countries: A meta-analysis," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    7. Marion Drut & Aurélie Mahieux, 2017. "Correcting agglomeration economies: How air pollution matters," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(2), pages 381-400, June.
    8. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    9. Miwa Matsuo, 2014. "Competition over High-income Workers: Job Growth and Access to Labour in Atlanta," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(8), pages 1634-1652, June.
    10. Daniel J. Graham & Patricia C. Melo, 2009. "Agglomeration Economies and Labour Productivity: Evidence from Longitudinal Worker Data for GBs Travel-to-Work Areas," SERC Discussion Papers 0031, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    11. Ana Maria Bonomi Barufi & Eduardo Amaral Haddad & Peter Nijkamp, 2016. "Industrial scope of agglomeration economies in Brazil," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 56(3), pages 707-755, May.
    12. Gustavo A. García, 2018. "Agglomeration Economies in the Presence of an Informal Sector The Colombian Case," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 16046, Universidad EAFIT.
    13. Gilles Duranton & Diego Puga, 2020. "The Economics of Urban Density," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 3-26, Summer.
    14. Gustavo A. García, 2019. "Agglomeration economies in the presence of an informal sector: the Colombian case," Revue d'économie régionale et urbaine, Armand Colin, vol. 0(2), pages 355-388.
    15. Quintero, Luis E. & Roberts, Mark, 2023. "Cities and productivity: Evidence from 16 Latin American and Caribbean countries," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    16. Donovan, Stuart & de Graaff, Thomas & Grimes, Arthur & de Groot, Henri L.F. & Maré, David C., 2022. "Cities with forking paths? Agglomeration economies in New Zealand 1976–2018," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    17. Licia Ferranna & Margherita Gerolimetto & Stefano Magrini, 2016. "Urban Governance Structure and Wage Disparities across US Metropolitan Areas," Working Papers 2016:26, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    18. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Laurent Gobillon, 2012. "The Cost of Agglomeration: Land Prices in Cities," Working Papers hal-03461075, HAL.
    19. Gechert, Sebastian & Heimberger, Philipp, 2022. "Do corporate tax cuts boost economic growth?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    20. Marion Drut & Aurélie Mahieux, 2014. "Correcting agglomeration economies: How air pollution matters," Working Papers hal-01007019, HAL.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • C11 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Bayesian Analysis: General
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jecsur:v:38:y:2024:i:1:p:168-200. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0950-0804 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.