This paper reconsiders the evolution of the growth of American cities since 1790 in light of new theories of urban growth. Our null hypothesis for long-term growth is random growth. We obtain evidence supporting random growth against the alternative of mean reversion (convergence) in city sizes...

This chapter describes how the spatial distribution of economic activity changes as economies develop and grow. We start with the relation between development and rural–urban migration. Moving beyond the coarse rural–urban distinction, we then focus on the continuum of locations in an...

This paper proposes a neoclassical growth model of a small open economy, connecting international trade to real GDP growth and structural transformation from agriculture to non-agriculture. The calibrated model generates 'growth miracles,' to which the contributors are learning by doing and...

Urban Agglomeration and Economic Growth is the fifth volume in the series of books emanating from the activities of the Egon-Sohmen-Foundation. It contains 10 papers (plus a supplementary note) which were presented at an international conference in Zurich, Switzerland, in summer 1993. These...

The aim of this paper is twofold. It is first to evaluate the comparative performance of ten MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries according to GDP growth and stock market return indicators using the non-parametric stochastic dominance approach. We will then use a multivariate vector...

This paper argues that the conventional approach of data averaging is problematic for exploring the growth–inequality nexus. It introduces the polynomial inverse lag (PIL) framework so that the impacts of inequality on investment, education, and ultimately on growth can be measured at...

This paper examines the long-run effects on the spatial distribution of economic activity caused by historical shocks. Using variation in the potential damage intensity of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake across cities in the American West, we show that more severely affected cities experienced...

This paper revisits the hypothesis that landlocked regions are systematically poorer than regions with ocean access, using panel data for 1,527 subnational regions in 83 nations from 1950-2014. This data structure allows us to exploit within-country-time variation only (e.g., regional variation...

This paper investigates the effects of a large temporary shock on the agglomeration of economic activity. Using variation in the potential damage intensity of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake across counties in the American West, we find that the earthquake persistently decreased various...