 Manhattan Transfer: Heterogeneous productivity effects of agglomeration in American authorshipLukas Kuld, Sara Mitchell and Christiane Hellmanzik Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2025, vol. 111, issue C Abstract: We investigate quantity and quality effects of agglomeration in the careers of American authors. We combine novel yearly data on publications and work location of 471 eminent authors with US Census data to analyse industry concentration and agglomeration economies from 1850 to 2000. While finding a positive overall effect of living in New York City on the publication propensity of literary works, we focus on the heterogeneity of the effect along three axes: decade, age, and length of residency in NYC. First, the effect size correlates with industry concentration and maturity. Second, authors immediately increase publications after arriving in NYC, while the effect wanes after around 10–15 years. Third, the effect is strongest for younger authors in their 20s and 30s. In addition, works published while an author lives in New York City are more likely to achieve critical acclaim and to have lasting influence in terms of present-day popularity. Keywords: Agglomeration economies; Urban history; Geographic clustering; Productivity; Literature; Creativity (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:regeco:v:111:y:2025:i:c:s0166046224000929 DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2024.104061 Access Statistics for this article Regional Science and Urban Economics is currently edited by D.P McMillen and Y. Zenou More articles in Regional Science and Urban Economics from Elsevier |
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