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Urban Productivity and Factor Growth in the Late Nineteenth Century

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  • Bostic, R.W.
  • Gans, J.S.
  • Stern, S.

Abstract

This paper uncovers a series of empirical facts regarding the sources of U.S. urban growth in the 1880s. We use a large theoretical literature to provide motivations for a number of potential sources of growth, particularly those based on geographical proximity externalities. These sources are characterised and linked to empirical proxies. Then we estimate the covariation of these empirical proxies with the growth rate in output, capital and labor respectively. We find that traditional (neoclassical), several geographic externality, and socio-political factors all covary significantly with aggregate growth, though in very specific ways. For example, the size of a city (a measure of the degree of urbanization) is uncorrelated with output growth, positively correlated with labor growth, and negatively correlated with capital growth. No one extant theory of growth accounts simultaneously for all the phenomena that we observe.
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Suggested Citation

  • Bostic, R.W. & Gans, J.S. & Stern, S., 1995. "Urban Productivity and Factor Growth in the Late Nineteenth Century," Papers 95/35, New South Wales - School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:fth:nesowa:95/35
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    2. Agarwalla, Astha, 2011. "Agglomeration Economies and Productivity Growth in India," IIMA Working Papers WP2011-01-08, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    3. Klein, Alexander & Crafts, Nicholas, 2015. "Agglomeration Externalities and Productivity Growth : U.S. Cities in the Railroad Era, 1880-1930," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 235, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    4. Viladecans-Marsal, Elisabet, 2000. "External Economies And Location Of Industrial Activities. An Analysis Of The Spanish Case," ERSA conference papers ersa00p95, European Regional Science Association.
    5. Alexander Klein & Nicholas Crafts, 2015. "Agglomeration Economies and Productivity Growth: U.S. Cities, 1880-1930," Studies in Economics 1514, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    6. Scott Stern & Michael E. Porter & Jeffrey L. Furman, 2000. "The Determinants of National Innovative Capacity," NBER Working Papers 7876, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Joshua Drucker, 2009. "Trends in Regional Industrial Concentration in the United States," Working Papers 09-06, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    8. Junius, Karsten, 1997. "Economies of scale: A survey of the empirical literature," Kiel Working Papers 813, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
    9. John M. Quigley, 1998. "Urban Diversity and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 127-138, Spring.
    10. Somik V. Lall & Elizabeth Schroeder & Emily Schmidt, 2014. "Identifying Spatial Efficiency-Equity Trade-offs in Territorial Development Policies: Evidence from Uganda," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(12), pages 1717-1733, December.
    11. Lall, Somik V. & Jun Koo & Chakravorty, Sanjoy, 2003. "Diversity matters - the economic geography of industry location in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3072, The World Bank.
    12. van Oort, Frank & Gerking, Shelby & van Soest, Daan, 2000. "A Spatial Analysis Of Endogenous Growth In Industry And Services In The Netherlands," ERSA conference papers ersa00p195, European Regional Science Association.
    13. Ren Lu & Ruikan Zhang & Torger Reve, 2013. "Relations among Clusters in Six Chinese City Regions," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(8), pages 1189-1209, August.
    14. Lall, Somik V. & Funderburg, Richard & Yepes, Tito, 2003. "Location, concentration, and performance of economic activity in Brazil," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3268, The World Bank.
    15. World Bank, 2004. "India : Investment Climate and Manufacturing Industry," World Bank Publications - Reports 14378, The World Bank Group.
    16. Simon, Curtis J. & Nardinelli, Clark, 2002. "Human capital and the rise of American cities, 1900-1990," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 59-96, January.
    17. Combes, Pierre-Philippe, 2000. "Economic Structure and Local Growth: France, 1984-1993," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 329-355, May.
    18. Muhammad Asif Qureshi & Jawaid Ahmed Qureshi & Ammar Ahmed & Shahzad Qaiser & Ramsha Ali & Arshian Sharif, 2020. "The Dynamic Relationship Between Technology Innovation and Human Development in Technologically Advanced Countries: Fresh Insights from Quantiles-on-Quantile Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 555-580, November.
    19. Raphael Bostic, 2002. "Do CRA Agreements Influence Lending Patterns?," Working Paper 8623, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.

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