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Winner-Take-All Cities

Author

Listed:
  • Florida, Richard

    (University of Toronto’s School of Cities and Rotman School of Management & New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate)

  • Mellander, Charlotta

    (Jönköping International Business School)

  • King, Karen

    (Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management)

Abstract

This chapter examines the phenomenon “winner-take-all cities.” Large segments of the modern economy have been shown to conform to a “winner-take-all” pattern as superstar talent draws a disproportionate share of economic rewards (Rosen 1981; Adler 1985; Frank and Cook, 1996). But cities also conform to a winner-take-all pattern in which a small group of global “superstar cities” (Gyourko et al., 2013) account for a disproportionate share of talent, economic activity, innovation, and wealth (Florida, 2017). We track the distribution of several key factors to identify and describe this pattern of winner-take-all urbanism in global cities, using novel data on venture capital-backed startups and billionaire wealth, which we compare to the distribution of economic activity and population. Following the literature on global cities (Beaverstock et al., 1999; Taylor and Walker, 2001), we also examine the disproportionate share of these activities that are concentrated in so-called “alpha” global cities. We find clear evidence of a winner-take-all urbanism across the global economy and the world’s cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Florida, Richard & Mellander, Charlotta & King, Karen, 2018. "Winner-Take-All Cities," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 471, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0471
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    2. Robert E. Lucas, Jr., 2001. "Externalities and Cities," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 4(2), pages 245-274, April.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Winner-take-all cities; Winner-take-all urbanism; Alpha cities; Economic activity; Innovation; Wealth; Billionaires; Super-rich;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General

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