Existence and Stability of City-Size Distribution in the Gravity and Logit Models

Takatoshi Tabuchi

Environment and Planning A, 1986, vol. 18, issue 10, 1375-1389

Abstract: An attempt is made to analyze reasons for and consequences of migration under zero population growth by use of a system of simultaneous differential equations. Intercity migration is assumed to take place based upon differences in utilities, where the utility function is expressed as a function of city size. It is revealed that a deterministic specification of the utility leads to an unstable distribution of city sizes, whereas a stochastic specification does not. Existence and stability of equilibria are examined for two representative stochastic migration models: the origin-constrained gravity model and the logit model. It is then argued that population concentration can be explained by an increase in urbanization economies, and population decentralization can be due to a decrease in intercity transportation and communication costs.

Date: 1986
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:18:y:1986:i:10:p:1375-1389

DOI: 10.1068/a181375

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