Real Estate Papers
Document Type
Working Paper
Date of this Version
2-2010
Publication Source
Agglomeration Economics
Start Page
15
Last Page
66
Abstract
Does productivity increase with density? We revisit the issue using French wage and TFP data. To deal with the ‘endogenous quantity of labour bias (i.e., urban agglomeration is consequence of high local productivity rather than a cause), we take an instrumental variable approach and introduce a new set of geological instruments in addition to standard historical instruments. To deal with the ‘endogenous quality of labour bias (i.e., cities attract skilled workers so that the effects of skills and urban agglomeration are confounded), we take a worker fixed-effect approach with wage data. We find modest evidence about the endogenous quantity of labour bias and both sets of instruments give a similar answer. We find that the endogenous quality of labour bias is quantitatively more important.
Recommended Citation
Combes, P., Duranton, G., Gobillon, L., & Roux, S. (2010). Estimating Agglomeration Economies With History, Geology, and Worker Effects. Agglomeration Economics, 15-66. Retrieved from https://repository.upenn.edu/real-estate_papers/21
Date Posted: 27 November 2017