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Journal of Political Economy Vol. 122 No. 5 2014

Coagglomeration, Clusters, and the Scale and Composition of Cities

Robert W. Helsley1; William C. Strange2

1 University of British Columbia · 2 University of Toronto

Abstract

Cities are neither completely specialized nor completely diverse. However, prior research has focused almost entirely on the polar cases of complete specialization and complete diversity. This paper develops a model that can also generate the intermediate case of cities that feature the coagglomeration of some but not all industries, thus giving theoretical foundations to the analysis of business clusters. The analysis sharply challenges the conventional wisdom that the size and composition of cities are necessarily driven primarily by agglomerative efficiencies.

DOI
10.1086/676557
Volume
122
Issue
5
Pages
1064-1093
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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