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The size distribution across all "Cities": a unifying approach

Giesen, Kristian and Suedekum, Jens (2012) The size distribution across all "Cities": a unifying approach. SERC Discussion Papers (SERCDP0122). The London School of Economics and Political Science ,SERC Discussion Paper, London, UK.

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Abstract

Older cities in the US tend to be larger than younger ones. The distribution of city sizes is, therefore, systematically related to the country's city age distribution. We introduce endogenous city creation into a dynamic economic model of an urban system. All cities exhibit the same long-run growth rate (Gibrat's law), but young cities initially grow faster. The double Pareto lognormal (DPLN) emerges as the city size distribution in our model. The DPLN unifies the lognormal and the Pareto distribution (Zipf's law), and closely fits US city size data. This evidence can potentially resolve several debates from the recent literature.

Item Type: Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL: http://rlab.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/abstract.a...
Additional Information: © 2012 The Authors
Divisions: Spatial Economics Research Centre
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Date Deposited: 27 Aug 2014 13:38
Last Modified: 15 Sep 2023 23:28
Funders: Economic and Social Research Council, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), Welsh Government
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/59252

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