Diego Puga (CEMFI), 鈥淯rban growth and its aggregate implications鈥�
Diego Puga (CEMFI)
Host: Nicolas Gendron Carrier聽
Field:聽Urban Economics聽
Date: September 25, 2020
鈥淯rban growth and its aggregate implications鈥� (with Gilles Duranton)
Abstract:
We develop an urban growth model where human capital spillovers foster entrepreneurship and learning in heterogenous cities. Incumbent residents limit city expansion through planning regulations so that commuting and housing costs do not outweigh productivity gains. The model builds on strong microfoundations, matches key regularities at the city and economy-wide levels, and generates novel predictions for which we provide evidence. It can be quantified relying on few parameters, provides a basis to estimate the main ones, and remains transparent regarding its mechanisms. We examine various counterfactuals to assess quantitatively the effect of cities on economic growth and aggregate