Agglomeration Economics
Edward L. Glaeser
Abstract
When firms and people are located near each other in cities and in industrial clusters, they benefit in various ways, including by reducing the costs of exchanging goods and ideas. One might assume that these benefits would become less important as transportation and communication costs fall. Paradoxically, however, cities have become increasingly important, and even within cities, industrial clusters remain vital. This book brings together chapters that examine the reasons why economic activity continues to cluster together despite the falling costs of moving goods and transmitting informatio ... More
When firms and people are located near each other in cities and in industrial clusters, they benefit in various ways, including by reducing the costs of exchanging goods and ideas. One might assume that these benefits would become less important as transportation and communication costs fall. Paradoxically, however, cities have become increasingly important, and even within cities, industrial clusters remain vital. This book brings together chapters that examine the reasons why economic activity continues to cluster together despite the falling costs of moving goods and transmitting information. The studies cover a wide range of topics and approach the economics of agglomeration from different angles. Together they advance the understanding of agglomeration and its implications for a globalized world.
Keywords:
transportation costs,
communication costs,
exchanging goods,
exchanging ideas,
economics of agglomeration,
globalization
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2010 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226297897 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: February 2013 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226297927.001.0001 |
