The Return of Zipf: Towards a Further Understanding of the Rank-Size Distribution |
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| Authors: | Steven Brakman Harry Garretsen Charles Van Marrewijk & Marianne van den Berg |
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| Institution: | University of Groningen, The Netherlands,;University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands,;Erasmus University, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | We offer a general-equilibrium economic approach to Zipf's Law or, more generally, the rank-size distribution—the striking empirical regularity concerning the size distribution of cities. We provide some further understanding of Zipf's Law by incorporating negative feedbacks (congestion) in a popular model of economic geography and international trade. This model allows the powers of agglomeration and spreading to be in long-run equilibrium, which enhances our understanding of the existence of a rank-size distribution of cities. |
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