Facts

Concentration
Persistent
heterogene-
ity
Regional Disparities and Urban
Urban
premium
Geography
Economics (Topics)
matters
Summary
1. Spatial disparities

Frédéric Robert-Nicoud
GSEM

February 27, 2020

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 Your new friend: Pingo

Facts
Concentration
Persistent
heterogene-
ity
Urban
premium
Geography
matters
Summary
Please log on to [Link]

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 Spatial disparities viewed from space

Facts
Concentration
Persistent
heterogene-
ity
Urban
premium
Geography
matters
Summary

Source: [Link]

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 Spatial disparities in the eu (gdp pc)

Facts
Concentration
Persistent
heterogene-
ity
Urban
premium
Geography
matters
Summary

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 Spatial disparities in the eu (unemployment)

Facts
Concentration
Persistent
heterogene-
ity
Urban
premium
Geography
matters
Summary

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 Fact I: Spatial disparities in Switzerland

Facts
Concentration
Inter−Cantonal Comparison
Persistent
1985

80
heterogene-
ity 1997
Urban 2009
70
Share of Developed Land (%)
premium
Geography
60
matters
Summary
50
40
30
20
10
0

ZH BE LU UR SZ OW NW GL ZG FR SO BS BL SH AR AI SG GR AG TG TI VD VS NE GE JU
Canton
Source: Swiss Federal Office of Statistics.
Horizontal dashed lines represent national averages for the corresponding year.

Source: Swiss Statistics (bfs). Kindly compiled by Jayson Danton (former UNIL PhD Student).

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 Fact I: Spatial disparities in Switzerland (cont.)

A zoom on some major urban areas, year 2009

Lausanne Geneva

100

100

un
un
Facts

pr
pr

od st
od

uc
uc

fo

tiv
re
tiv
fo

e
e
Concentration

re
80

80
st
Average Share of Land (%)

Average Share of Land (%)

Persistent
heterogene- 60

60
ity

ag
Urban

ric
ag
40

40

ult
ric

ur
premium

ult

e
ur
e
Geography
20

20
matters

in
du
in
du esid

str
Summary

str e

ia
re
r

l
sid
ia nti
0

0
l

en
−10000 −5000 0 5000 10000 −10000 −5000 0 5000 10000

tia
l
al
Distance from City Center (m) Distance from City Center (m)
Positive/negative distances mean north/south of CBD respectively. Positive/negative distances mean north/south of CBD respectively.

Basel Zürich
100

100
un

un
pr

pr
o du

o
du
cti

cti
ve

ve
80

80

fo
Average Share of Land (%)

Average Share of Land (%)

re
st
fo
re
st
60

60

ag
ric
40

40

ult
ur
e
ag
ric
ult
ur
20

20
e

in
du
in

str
du esid

ia
str

l
r

ia nti

re
l

sid
0

0
e

en
−10000 −5000 0 5000 −10000 −5000 0 5000 10000

tia
al

l
Distance from City Center (m) Distance from City Center (m)
Positive/negative distances mean north/south of CBD respectively. Positive/negative distances mean north/south of CBD respectively.

Similar picture for Paris click here

Source: Swiss Statistics (bfs). Kindly compiled by Jayson Danton (PhD Student).
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 The emergence of spatial disparities in the world (cont.)

Facts
Concentration
Persistent
heterogene-
gdp pc in developed and developing countries:
ity
Urban
premium
Geography
matters
Summary

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 Zipf’s law in the world

Facts
Concentration
Persistent
heterogene-
ity
Urban
premium
Geography
matters
Summary

Source: [Link]
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 Agglomeration and Earnings inequality across us cities

Facts

10.2
Concentration
Persistent

10
heterogene-
ity
Urban
premium 9.8
log(mean earnings)

Geography
matters
9.6

Summary
9.4

conditional on ability
9.2
9

10.5 11.5 12.5 13.5 14.5 15.5 16.5

log(population)

Figure 1. Size–productivity–ability
5

Source: Behrens and Robert-Nicoud (2014)

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 Congestion and Housing costs inequality across French cities

Facts Housing prices

ndConcentration
Price
Persistent
heterogene-
ity
Urban
premium
Geography
matters 1.5
Log net house price

Summary

0.5

Log population
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

‐0.5

ouse Price ‐1

Source: Combes, Duranton, and Gobillon (2016). The Costs of agglomeration: House and land prices in French cities. Processed.

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 Market potential and the core-periphery structure of economies

Facts
Concentration
European regional GDP per capita European regional market potential
Euros per capita in 2004 Millions of Euros per km in 2004
Persistent
28 900 - 71 400 (46) 26 100 - 60 700 (45)
heterogene- 25 800 - 28 900 (43) 21 700 - 26 100 (42)
ity 22 700 - 25 800 (45) 16 700 - 21 700 (46)
18 500 - 22 700 (44) 12 200 - 16 700 (45)
7 900 - 18 500 (46) 9 200 - 12 200 (45)
Urban 1 900 - 7 900 (45) 4 500 - 9 200 (46)
premium
Geography
matters
Summary

P GDPr


Note: Market potential of region i = .
distir
r ∈Europe
Source: Combes, Mayer, and Thisse (2008). Economic Geography: The Integration of Regions and Nations. Princeton University Press.

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 First nature geography (cont.)

Facts
Concentration
Persistent
heterogene-
Climate and infectious diseases (e.g. malaria)
ity
Urban
premium
Geography
matters
Summary

Countries by gdp pc, 2014 Countries by Malaria prevalence

Note: Malaria risk is “stable” if more than 0.1 case is recorded per 1,000 population each year, “unstable” if below this figure.

Source: Gallup and Sachs (2001). The economic burden of malaria. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 64 (1 suppl), 85-96
paper

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 Facts I-IV: Summary

Facts
1 Concentration
Concentration Many people in few places
Persistent
heterogene-
ity
Many places with few people
Urban
premium
2 Persistence and heterogeneity
Geography
matters People stay in bad places
Summary Cities differ greatly in size and composition
3 Urban productivity and inequality premia
Wages and congestion are higher in large cities
Large cities attract high ability people
Large cities attract poor people
Large cities are more unequal
4 Geography matters
First and second nature advantages
People mobility and agglomeration economies imply that temporary
(dis)advantages have persistent effect

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