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City scale and productivity in China

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  • Li, Chao
  • Gibson, John

Abstract

We examine effects of city scale on output per worker in China. Existing studies use wrong measures of scale. Four-fifths of cities are close to the estimated productivity-maximizing scale. Output losses from sub-optimal scale are typically below 10%.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Chao & Gibson, John, 2015. "City scale and productivity in China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 86-90.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:131:y:2015:i:c:p:86-90
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2015.04.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Zelai Xu, 2009. "Productivity and Agglomeration Economies in Chinese Cities," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 51(3), pages 284-301, September.
    2. Xavier Gabaix, 1999. "Zipf's Law for Cities: An Explanation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 739-767.
    3. Roberts, Mark & Deichmann, Uwe & Fingleton, Bernard & Shi, Tuo, 2012. "Evaluating China's road to prosperity: A new economic geography approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 580-594.
    4. Luckstead, Jeff & Devadoss, Stephen, 2014. "A comparison of city size distributions for China and India from 1950 to 2010," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 290-295.
    5. Chun-Chung Au & J. Vernon Henderson, 2006. "Are Chinese Cities Too Small?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(3), pages 549-576.
    6. Chao Li & John Gibson, 2014. "Agglomeration Economies in China: Locations and Effects," Working Papers in Economics 14/02, University of Waikato.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Li He & Xukun Zhang, 2023. "Assessing the Impact of Pollution on Urban Scale in China: A New Perspective from Residents’ Health," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-21, November.
    2. Dmitriy Izotov, 2017. "Urban Economic Growth in the Chinese Heterogeneity Space," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(3), pages 789-802.
    3. John Gibson & Chao Li, 2017. "The Erroneous Use Of China'S Population And Per Capita Data: A Structured Review And Critical Test," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 905-922, September.
    4. John Gibson & Chao Li, 2018. "The “Belt and Road Initiative†and comparative regional productivity in China," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 168-181, May.
    5. Wang, Ting & Chanda, Areendam, 2018. "Manufacturing growth and local employment multipliers in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 515-543.
    6. Chao Li & John Gibson, 2014. "Agglomeration Economies in China: Locations and Effects," Working Papers in Economics 14/02, University of Waikato.
    7. Zhang, Lin & He, Xiaoxia & Jia, Zhenli, 2023. "Industrial agglomeration, public services and city size: Evidence from 286 cities in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    8. Kyung-Min Nam, 2017. "Is spatial distribution of China’s population excessively unequal? A cross-country comparison," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(2), pages 453-474, September.
    9. Chen, Danling & Hu, Wenbo & Li, Yuying & Zhang, Chaozheng & Lu, Xinhai & Cheng, Hui, 2023. "Exploring the temporal and spatial effects of city size on regional economic integration: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    10. Yan, Siqi & Peng, Jianchao & Wu, Qun, 2020. "Exploring the non-linear effects of city size on urban industrial land use efficiency: A spatial econometric analysis of cities in eastern China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agglomeration; Cities; Population; Productivity; Scale; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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