Abstract
Researchers have recently shown widespread interest in the urban concentrations and the resulting economic impacts on global cities. Opinions differ among researchers as some believe in the existence of such effect while the others do not. The study investigates the impact of urban concentration on economic growth by using panel data for 16 countries during 1970-2014. In order to verify the strength of the results, this paper uses two measures for urban concentration, namely urban primacy and urban density. Results show that urban concentration has a positive impact on economic growth and no evidence was found that support the non-linear effect of urban concentration on economic growth. This finding supports many previous empirical studies that highlight the importance of agglomeration economies on economic growth.Keywords: Urban concentration, externalities, urban primacy, urban density, economic growthJEL Classifications: O4, R11, R12DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.10012
Highlights
In recent years, researchers have shown widespread interest in the urban concentrations and the resulting economic impacts that our cities witness
Cities generate more than 80% of global GDP (UN-Habitat, 2016), and their importance for the economy is concentrated on the economies of scale they provide besides the gains resulting from specialization at the levels of the industry and service sectors; as well as facilitating a better matching process between workforce skills and work requirements
This study investigates the impact of urban concentration on economic growth by using panel cointegrated regression techniques
Summary
Researchers have shown widespread interest in the urban concentrations and the resulting economic impacts that our cities witness Opinions differ between those who believe that there is an impact of the urban concentration on economic growth and those who believe otherwise. Knowledge spillovers and patents among companies, mimicking and innovation in style are examples of external effects of production that are encouraged by urban concentrations. These effects may arise with spatial concentration by a specific sector (localization economies) or by greater concentrations of various sectors (urbanization economies), and all of which fall within the concept of “agglomeration economies” that provide in turn cost advantages to producers and consumers inside cities (Quigley, 2008; Todaro and Smith, 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
