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Deviations from Zipf’s Law for American cities: an empirical examination

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  • Rafael, González-Val

Abstract

This work presents a simple method for calculating deviations regarding city size and the size which would correspond to it with a Pareto exponent equal to one unit (Zipf’s Law). Recent works show that when considering the entire sample without size restrictions, the estimated Pareto exponent tends to be much lower than one. Our aim is to analyse the distribution element by element, taking data from all American cities in 2000, and explain the deviation of the size predicted by Zipf’s Law and the real size of each city, using variables for each city of per capita income, distribution of employment among sectors, individuals by level of education, etc.; explicative variables which attempt to capture the influence of local externalities. To do this a Multinomial Logit Model is used.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael, González-Val, 2008. "Deviations from Zipf’s Law for American cities: an empirical examination," MPRA Paper 11504, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:11504
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Tarsha EASON & Ahjond S. GARMESTANI, 2012. "Cross-Scale Dynamics Of A Regional Urban System Through Time," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 36, pages 55-77.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cities; Zipf’s Law; deviations; Pareto distribution; Multinomial logit;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C16 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Econometric and Statistical Methods; Specific Distributions
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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