2019/01/01 by Donald R. Davis, Jonathan I. Dingel · 1 voice · 5 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis #Economic Policies and Impacts #Economic theories and models
paper · doi:10.1257/aer.20130249
openalex publication_date 2019/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/11
Leading empiricists and theorists of cities have recently argued that the generation and exchange of ideas must play a more central role in the analysis of cities. This paper develops the first system of cities model with costly idea exchange as the agglomeration force. The model replicates a broad set of established facts about the cross section of cities. It provides the first spatial equilibrium theory of why skill premia are higher in larger cities and how variation in these premia emerges from symmetric fundamentals. (JEL J24, J31, O31, R12, R23)