Cities with forking paths? Agglomeration economies in New Zealand 1976–2018

Stuart Donovan; Thomas de Graaff; Arthur Grimes; Henri L.F. de Groot; David C. Maré

doi:10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2022.103799

Cities with forking paths? Agglomeration economies in New Zealand 1976–2018

Stuart Donovan^*, Thomas de Graaff, Arthur Grimes, Henri L.F. de Groot, David C. Maré

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

We consider whether external urban economic advantages (agglomeration economies) vary with time and space using detailed micro-data on 134 locations in New Zealand for the period 1976–2018. We find subtle temporal variation, with estimates of agglomeration economies peaking in 1991 and then falling by approximately 1 percentage point in the subsequent 15-years. Since 2006, however, estimates have remained broadly stable; the world has not been getting “flatter”. Our results reveal more significant spatial variation: Large cities offer net benefits in production but not consumption, whereas small locations close to large cities (“satellites”) experience agglomeration economies that are stronger than average.

Original language	English
Article number	103799
Pages (from-to)	1-17
Number of pages	17
Journal	Regional Science and Urban Economics
Volume	95
Early online date	6 May 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2022.103799
Publication status	Published - Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors

Funding

☆ The authors acknowledge financial support from “Building Better Homes, Towns, and Cities”, National Science Challenge; extremely helpful comments from the Editor and two anonymous Referees; and data supplied by Kate Preston and Shaan Badenhorst. Stuart Donovan acknowledges support from Veitch Lister Consulting and advice from Peter Nunns. Access to the data used in this study was provided by Statistics New Zealand under conditions designed to give effect to the security and confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act 1975. The results presented in this study are the work of the authors, not Statistics New Zealand nor their data suppliers.

Funders	Funder number
Statistics New Zealand
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia	PTDC/CCI-BIO/29266/2017

Keywords

Agglomeration economies
Cities
Consumption
New Zealand
Productivity

Access to Document

10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2022.103799

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Cite this

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title = "Cities with forking paths? Agglomeration economies in New Zealand 1976–2018",

abstract = "We consider whether external urban economic advantages (agglomeration economies) vary with time and space using detailed micro-data on 134 locations in New Zealand for the period 1976–2018. We find subtle temporal variation, with estimates of agglomeration economies peaking in 1991 and then falling by approximately 1 percentage point in the subsequent 15-years. Since 2006, however, estimates have remained broadly stable; the world has not been getting “flatter”. Our results reveal more significant spatial variation: Large cities offer net benefits in production but not consumption, whereas small locations close to large cities (“satellites”) experience agglomeration economies that are stronger than average.",

keywords = "Agglomeration economies, Cities, Consumption, New Zealand, Productivity",

author = "Stuart Donovan and \{de Graaff\}, Thomas and Arthur Grimes and \{de Groot\}, \{Henri L.F.\} and Mar{\'e}, \{David C.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors",

year = "2022",

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doi = "10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2022.103799",

language = "English",

volume = "95",

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T1 - Cities with forking paths? Agglomeration economies in New Zealand 1976–2018

AU - Donovan, Stuart

AU - de Graaff, Thomas

AU - Grimes, Arthur

AU - de Groot, Henri L.F.

AU - Maré, David C.

PY - 2022/7

Y1 - 2022/7

N2 - We consider whether external urban economic advantages (agglomeration economies) vary with time and space using detailed micro-data on 134 locations in New Zealand for the period 1976–2018. We find subtle temporal variation, with estimates of agglomeration economies peaking in 1991 and then falling by approximately 1 percentage point in the subsequent 15-years. Since 2006, however, estimates have remained broadly stable; the world has not been getting “flatter”. Our results reveal more significant spatial variation: Large cities offer net benefits in production but not consumption, whereas small locations close to large cities (“satellites”) experience agglomeration economies that are stronger than average.

AB - We consider whether external urban economic advantages (agglomeration economies) vary with time and space using detailed micro-data on 134 locations in New Zealand for the period 1976–2018. We find subtle temporal variation, with estimates of agglomeration economies peaking in 1991 and then falling by approximately 1 percentage point in the subsequent 15-years. Since 2006, however, estimates have remained broadly stable; the world has not been getting “flatter”. Our results reveal more significant spatial variation: Large cities offer net benefits in production but not consumption, whereas small locations close to large cities (“satellites”) experience agglomeration economies that are stronger than average.

KW - Agglomeration economies

KW - Cities

KW - Consumption

KW - New Zealand

KW - Productivity

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ER -

Cities with forking paths? Agglomeration economies in New Zealand 1976–2018

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

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Data for Donovan et al (2022) -- Cities with forking paths

Cite this

Cities with forking paths? Agglomeration economies in New Zealand 1976–2018

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Persistent URL (handle)

Other files and links

Datasets

Data for Donovan et al (2022) -- Cities with forking paths

Cite this