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Prime Locations

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriel Ahlfeldt
  • Thilo N. H. Albers
  • Kristian Behrens

Abstract

We harness big data to detect prime locations—large clusters of knowledge-based tradable services—in 125 global cities and track changes in the within-city geography of prime service jobs over a century. Historically smaller cities that did not develop early public transit networks are less concentrated today and have prime locations farther away from their historic cores. We rationalize these findings in an agent-based model that features extreme agglomeration, multiple equilibria, and path dependence. Both city size and public transit networks anchor city structure. Exploiting major disasters and using a novel instrument—subway potential—we provide causal evidence for these mechanisms and disentangle size- from transport network effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Thilo N. H. Albers & Kristian Behrens, 2020. "Prime Locations," CESifo Working Paper Series 8768, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8768
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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.
    2. Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), 2015. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 5, number 5.
    3. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Daniel P. McMillen, 2018. "Tall Buildings and Land Values: Height and Construction Cost Elasticities in Chicago, 1870–2010," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(5), pages 861-875, December.
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    2. Albers, Thilo N.H. & Kappner, Kalle, 2023. "Perks and pitfalls of city directories as a micro-geographic data source," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    3. Andrew Dickens & Nils‐Petter Lagerlöf, 2023. "The long‐run agglomeration effects of early agriculture in Europe," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(3), pages 629-651, July.
    4. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Barr, Jason, 2022. "The economics of skyscrapers: A synthesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    5. Acosta, Camilo & Lyngemark, Ditte Håkonsson, 2021. "The internal spatial organization of firms: Evidence from Denmark," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    6. Liotta, Charlotte & Viguié, Vincent & Lepetit, Quentin, 2022. "Testing the monocentric standard urban model in a global sample of cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    7. Brooks, Leah & Denoeux, Genevieve, 2022. "What if you build it and they don't come? How the ghost of transit past haunts transit present," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    8. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Barr, Jason, 2022. "Viewing urban spatial history from tall buildings," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy
    • R52 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Land Use and Other Regulations
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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