Overview
This project consists of empirical and theoretical analyses. On the empirical side, we develop a systematic statistical framework for identifying agglomerations and their spatial patterns in a given industry as well as the spatial coordination of agglomerations across industries. The application to the Japanese and the U.S. data reveals the common and persistent regularities in the industrial and population agglomeration patterns in these countries, which in turn indicates universal equilibrium constraints for the viable spatial distribution of industrial and population agglomerations within a given region. The developed empirical approach is also extended to characterize agglomeration patterns of more general economic activities such as innovation activities and mass transport services. On the theoretical side, a general equilibrium model is developed to provide a microeconomic foundation for each of our empirical findings, and policy simulations are conducted for agglomeration-based regional industrial policies.
September 13, 2011 - August 31, 2013
