Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/69472 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 7175
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The world is replete with spatial frictions. Shipping goods across cities entails trade frictions. Commuting within cities causes urban frictions. How important are these frictions in shaping the spatial economy? We develop and quantify a novel framework to address this question at three different levels: Do spatial frictions matter for the city-size distribution? Do they affect individual city sizes? Do they contribute to the productivity advantage of large cities and the toughness of competition in cities? The short answers are: no; yes; and it depends.
Subjects: 
trade frictions
urban frictions
city-size distribution
productivity
markups
JEL: 
F12
R12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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