Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Agglomeration and Jobs

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Regional Science

Abstract

This chapter discusses the literature on agglomeration economies from the perspective of jobs and job dynamics. It provides a partial review of the empirical evidence on agglomeration externalities; the functionality of cities; the dynamic relationship between cities, jobs, and firms; and the linkages between cities. We provide the following conclusions. First, agglomeration effects are quantitatively important and pervasive. Second, the productive advantage of large cities is constantly eroded and needs to be sustained by new job creations and innovations. Third, this process of creative destruction in cities, which is fundamental for aggregate growth, is determined by the characteristics of urban systems and broader institutional features. We highlight important differences between developing countries and more advanced economies. A major challenge for developing countries is the transformation of their urban systems into drivers of economic growth.

Gilles Duranton also affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Center for Economic Policy Research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bartelsman E, Haltiwanger J, Scarpetta S (2004) Microeconomic evidence of creative destruction in industrial and developing countries. Processed, University of Maryland

    Google Scholar 

  • Baum-Snow N (2007) Did highways cause suburbanization? Q J Econ 122(2):775–805

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baum-Snow N, Brandt L, Henderson JV, Turner MA, Zhang Q (2017) Roads, railways, and decentralization of Chinese cities. Rev Econ Stat 48(3):435–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlino GA, Chatterjee S, Hunt RM (2007) Urban density and the rate of invention. J Urban Econ 61(3):389–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlot S, Duranton G (2004) Communication externalities in cities. J Urban Econ 56(3):581–613

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ciccone A, Hall RE (1996) Productivity and the density of economic activity. Am Econ Rev 86(1):54–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Cingano F, Schivardi F (2004) Identifying the sources of local productivity growth. J Eur Econ Assoc 2(4):720–742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Combes P-P, Gobillon L (2015) The empirics of agglomeration economies. In: Duranton G, Henderson V, Strange W (eds) Handbook of regional and urban economics, vol 5A. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 247–348

    Google Scholar 

  • Combes P-P, Duranton G, Gobillon L (2008) Spatial wage disparities: sorting matters! J Urban Econ 63(2):723–742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Combes P-P, Duranton G, Gobillon L, Puga D, Roux S (2012) The productivity advantages of large cities: distinguishing agglomeration from firm selection. Econometrica 80(6):2543–2594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De la Roca J, Puga D (2017) Learning by working in big cities. Rev Econ Stud 84(1):106–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Tella R, Galliani S, Schargrodsky E (2007) The formation of beliefs: evidence from the allocation of land titles to squatters. Q J Econ 122(1):209–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson D (2015) The gains from market integration. Annu Rev Econ 7(1):619–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson D (2018) Railroads of the Raj: estimating the impact of transportation infrastructure. Am Econ Rev 108(4):899–934

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duranton G (2015) Growing through cities in developing countries. World Bank Res Obs 39(1):39–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duranton G, Puga D (2001) Nursery cities: urban diversity, process innovation, and the life cycle of products. Am Econ Rev 91(5):1454–1477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duranton G, Puga D (2005) From sectoral to functional urban specialisation. J Urban Econ 57(2):343–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duranton G, Puga D (2014) The growth of cities. In: Aghion P, Durlauf S (eds) Handbook of economic growth, vol 2. North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp 781–853

    Google Scholar 

  • Duranton G, Turner MA (2012) Urban growth and transportation. Rev Econ Stud 79(4):1407–1440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duranton G, Venables AJ (2018) Place-based policies for development. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 24562

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison G, Glaeser EL, Kerr WR (2010) What causes industry agglomeration? Evidence from coagglomeration patterns. Am Econ Rev 100(3):1195–1213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman MP, Audretsch DB (1999) Innovation in cities: science-based diversity, specialization and localized competition. Eur Econ Rev 43(2):409–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Field E (2007) Entitled to work: urban property rights and labor supply in Peru. Q J Econ 122(4):1561–1602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Figueiredo O, Guimaraes P, Woodward D (2002) Home-field advantage: location decisions of Portuguese entrepreneurs. J Urban Econ 52(2):341–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujita M, Ishii R (1998) Global location behavior and organizational dynamics of Japanese electronics firms and their impact on regional economies. In: Chandler AD Jr, Hagström P, Sölvell Ö (eds) The dynamic firm: the role of technology, strategy, organization and regions. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 343–383

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaeser EL, Kerr WR (2009) Local industrial conditions and entrepreneurship: how much of the spatial distribution can we explain? J Econ Manag Strateg 18(3):623–663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaeser EL, Resseger MR (2010) The complementarity between cities and skills. J Reg Sci 50(1):221–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaeser EL, Kallal H, Scheinkman JA, Shleifer A (1992) Growth in cities. J Polit Econ 100(6):1126–1152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaeser EL, Kerr WR, Ponzetto GAM (2010) Clusters of entrepreneurship. J Urban Econ 67(1):150–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenstone M, Hornbeck R, Moretti E (2010) Identifying agglomeration spillovers: evidence from winners and losers of large plants openings. J Polit Econ 118(3):536–598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson JV (2005) Urbanization and growth. In: Aghion P, Durlauf SN (eds) Handbook of economic growth, vol 1B. North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp 1543–1591

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsieh C-T, Klenow PJ (2009) Misallocation and manufacturing TFP in China and India. Q J Econ 124(4):1403–1448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr WR (2010) Breakthrough inventions and migrating clusters of innovation. J Urban Econ 67(1):46–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krugman PR (1991) Increasing returns and economic geography. J Polit Econ 99(3):484–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin J (2011) Technological adaptation, cities, and new work. Rev Econ Stat 93(2):554–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michelacci C, Silva O (2007) Why so many local entrepreneurs? Rev Econ Stat 89(4):615–633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter ME (1990) The competitive advantage of nations. Free Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Redding SJ, Turner MA (2015) Transportation costs and the spatial organization of economic activity. In: Duranton G, Henderson V, Strange WC (eds) Handbook of regional and urban economics, vol 5B. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1339–1398

    Google Scholar 

  • Storeygard A (2016) Farther on down the road: Transport costs, trade and urban growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Rev Econ Stud 83(3):1263–1295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler CH (2008) Local market scale and the pattern of job changes among young men. Reg Sci Urban Econ 38(2):101–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Gilles Duranton

Authors
  1. Gilles Duranton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gilles Duranton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria

    Manfred M. Fischer

  2. and Business Administration Department of Spatial Economics, Free University Faculty of Economics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Peter Nijkamp

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Duranton, G. (2019). Agglomeration and Jobs. In: Fischer, M., Nijkamp, P. (eds) Handbook of Regional Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36203-3_33-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36203-3_33-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-36203-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-36203-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation