Malthus living in a slum: urban concentration, infrastructures and economic growth

David Castells-Quintana ()

No 201505, AQR Working Papers from University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group

Abstract: The link between urban concentration and economic growth at country level is not straightforward, as there are benefits as well as costs associated with urban concentration. Indeed, recent empirical evidence suggests different effects of urban concentration on growth depending on the level of development and the world region under analysis. This paper revisits the literature on urban concentration and economic growth to shed some light on these previous results. In particular, differences in the process of urbanisation, and in the quality of the urban environment itself, have been suggested as most likely defining the balance between benefits and costs from urban concentration, and are probably behind differences in the relationship between concentration and growth. However, empirical evidence in this regard remains very limited. The aim of the paper is to fill this gap by paying special and explicit attention to differences between world regions in terms of urban infrastructure, essentially access to basic urban services. The main contribution of the paper is to therefore provide empirical evidence on the role that the urban environment plays in the relationship between urban concentration and economic growth.

Keywords: Agglomeration; urbanisation; urban concentration; infrastructure; congestion diseconomies; growth; Sub-Sahara Africa JEL classification: O1; O4; R1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2015-01, Revised 2015-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-gro and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Malthus living in a slum: Urban concentration, infrastructure and economic growth (2017)
Working Paper: Malthus living in a slum: urban concentration, infrastructures and economic growth (2015)
Working Paper: Malthus living in a slum: Urban concentration, infrastructures and economic growth (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201505

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