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The Logic of Agglomeration

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  • Gilles Duranton
  • William R. Kerr

Abstract

This review discusses frontier topics in economic geography as they relate to firms and agglomeration economies. We focus on areas where empirical research is scarce but possible. We first outline a conceptual framework for city formation that allows us to contemplate what empiricists might study when using firm-level data to compare the functioning of cities and industries with each other. We then examine a second model of the internal structure of a cluster to examine possibilities with firm-level data for better exposing the internal operations of clusters. An overwhelming theme of our review is the vast scope for enhancements of our picture of agglomeration with the new data that are emerging.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilles Duranton & William R. Kerr, 2015. "The Logic of Agglomeration," NBER Working Papers 21452, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21452
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    2. Madaleno, Margarida & Nathan, Max & Overman, Henry & Waights, Sevrin, 2018. "Incubators, Accelerators and Regional Economic Development," IZA Discussion Papers 11856, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Laura Alfaro & Maggie X. Chen, 2016. "Location Fundamentals, Agglomeration Economies, and the Geography of Multinational Firms," Working Papers 2016-18, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    4. Hiroki INOUE & Hiromi SAITO & Shigeru SUGIHARA & Shigeru HIROTA & Taisuke KAMEDA, 2017. "Agglomeration and Networking in Academic Research," Economic Analysis, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), vol. 194, pages 93-124, May.
    5. Nathan, Max, 2022. "Does light touch cluster policy work? Evaluating the tech city programme," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(9).
    6. Olof Ejermo & Katrin Hussinger & Basheer Kalash & Torben Schubert, 2022. "Innovation in Malmö after the Öresund Bridge," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 5-20, January.
    7. Peter H Egger & Marko Koethenbuerger & Gabriel Loumeau, 2022. "Local border reforms and economic activity," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(1), pages 81-102.
    8. Rusanovskiy, Viktor (Русановский, Виктор) & Markov, Vladimir (Марков, Владимир) & Brovkova, Anna (Бровкова, Анна), 2018. "Modeling the Effects of Spatial Localization in Urban Agglomerations of Russia [Моделирование Эффекта Пространственной Локализации В Городских Агломерациях России]," Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 6, December.
    9. Paal Brevik Wangsness & Kenneth Løvold Rødseth & Wiljar Hansen, 2017. "A review of guidelines for including wider economic impacts in transport appraisal," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 94-115, January.
    10. Cui, Chuantao & Li, Leona Shao-Zhi, 2023. "Trade policy uncertainty and new firm entry: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    11. Christoph Stich & Emmanouil Tranos & Max Nathan, 2023. "Modeling clusters from the ground up: A web data approach," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 50(1), pages 244-267, January.
    12. Sandra Bernick & Richard Davies & Anna Valero, 2017. "Industry in Britain: an atlas," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 513, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    13. Emil Malizia & Yan Chen, 2019. "The Economic Growth and Development Outcomes Related to Vibrancy: An Empirical Analysis of Major Employment Centers in Large U.S. Cities," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 33(4), pages 255-266, November.
    14. Nancy Lozano-Gracia, 2020. "COVID and cities – A new demon that points at old problems: How can research help?," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(7), pages 1128-1132, September.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • L6 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • R3 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location

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