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The Identification of Agglomeration Economies

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  • Duranton, Gilles
  • Combes, Pierre-Philippe
  • Gobillon, Laurent

Abstract

Measures of urban productivity are typically positively associated with city population. But is this relationship causal? We discuss the main sources of bias in the proper identification of agglomeration effects. We also assess a variety of solutions that have been proposed in the literature to deal with them.

Suggested Citation

  • Duranton, Gilles & Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2010. "The Identification of Agglomeration Economies," CEPR Discussion Papers 8119, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8119
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agglomeration economies; Instrumental variables; Natural experiments; Structural estimation;
    All these keywords.

    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)
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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