The Relationship between the Establishment Age Distribution and Urban Growth

38 Pages Posted: 16 Aug 2007

See all articles by Jason Faberman

Jason Faberman

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Bureau of Labor Statistics - Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics

Date Written: July 2007

Abstract

This paper presents new evidence on the relationship between a metropolitan area's employment growth and its establishment age distribution. The author finds that cities with a relatively younger distribution of establishments tend to have higher growth, as well as higher job and establishment turnover. Geographic variations in the age distribution account for 38 percent of the geographic differences in growth, compared to the 32 percent accounted for by variations in industry composition. Differences are disproportionately accounted for by entrants and young (5 years or younger) establishments. Furthermore, the relationship between age and growth is robust to controls for urban diversity and education. Overall, the results support a microfoundations view of urban growth, where the benefits of agglomeration affect firms not through some production externality but through a process that determines which firms enter, exit, and thrive at a given location.

Keywords: Establishment age, Urban growth and agglomeration, Firm dynamics, Job reallocation

JEL Classification: E24, J63, R11

Suggested Citation

Faberman, Jason, The Relationship between the Establishment Age Distribution and Urban Growth (July 2007). FRB of Philadelphia Working Paper No. 07-18, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1006229 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1006229

Jason Faberman (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

230 South LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60604
United States

Bureau of Labor Statistics - Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics ( email )

2 Massachusetts Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20212
United States

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