Does administrative status matter for urban growth? Evidence from present and former county capitals in East Germany

Bastian Heider, Martin T.W. Rosenfeld and Albrecht Kauffmann ()

ERSA conference papers from European Regional Science Association

Abstract: Public sector activities are often neglected in economic approaches to analyze the driving forces of urban growth and changes in urban hierarchies. One crucial aspect of public sector activities is the institutional status of cities as regional capital. The paper is reporting on a quasi natural experiment on East German county towns. Since 1990, cities in East Germany have shown remarkable differences in their population development. During the same period many towns have lost their former status as county seat due to several administrative reforms. Using a Difference-In-Difference approach we compare the population development of former county capitals to cities successfully holding a capital status over the observed period. The estimation results show a statistically significant and economically relevant positive effect of holding a county capital status on annual population change. We further observe that the difference in population developments is increasing over time. Our results are not only of empirical interest but contribute to the general literature, explaining urban hierarchies and should be considered by policymakers for future policy measures stimulating urban economic growth.

Keywords: Urban Economic Growth; Centrality; Institutions; Public Sector; East Germany; Post-socialist Cities; Capital Cities; County Towns; County Government Reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H1 H7 P2 R1 R5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-tra and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa16/Paper308_BastianHeider.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Does Administrative Status Matter for Urban Growth? Evidence from Present and Former County Capitals in East Germany (2018)
Working Paper: Does administrative status matter for urban growth? Evidence from present and former county capitals in East Germany (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa16p308

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