How Should We Measure City Size? Theory and Evidence Within and Across Rich and Poor Countries

IMF Working Papers, September 20, 2019

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Bibliographic details

Authors: Remi Jedwab, Prakash Loungani, Anthony Yezer
Published: September 20, 2019
Series: IMF Working Papers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513513782.001

Core question and motivation

Holding city population constant, cities differ enormously across the world by measures such as land area, interior space, and value of output.
Population = land area × structure space per unit land (i.e., heights) × population per unit interior space (i.e., crowding).
The first two components (land area and structure space per unit land) are far larger in the cities of developed countries; the third component (population per unit interior space) is larger for the cities of developing countries.
Research objective: study sources of diversity among cities with similar population and test whether population alone is a sufficient statistic to characterize city differences within and across countries.

Theoretical framework (Standard Urban Model, SUM)

Constructed a version of the standard urban model (SUM) to analyze city size and physical characteristics.
Key prediction: the elasticity of city size with respect to income could be similar within both developing countries and developed countries.
Additional theoretical claim: differences in income and urban technology can explain the physical differences between the cities of developed countries and developing countries.

Data and empirical strategy

Used a variety of newly merged data sets to test the SUM predictions for similarities and differences of cities in developed and developing countries.
Empirical focus: evaluate whether population is a sufficient statistic to characterize city differences among cities within the same country and across countries.

Main empirical findings

Population is a sufficient statistic to characterize city differences among cities within the same country.
Population is not a sufficient statistic to characterize city differences across countries.
Physical manifestations:
- Developed-country cities: larger land area and larger structure space per unit land (heights).
- Developing-country cities: greater population per unit interior space (crowding).
The SUM predictions about similarities (within-country) and differences (across-country) receive empirical support from the merged data sets.

Key thematic keywords and subjects (as presented)

Subjects: Housing, Housing prices, Income, Labor, National accounts, Population and demographics, Prices, Wages
Keywords: building height, Building Heights, Cities, density function, economic development, Global, Housing, Housing prices, Income, income elasticity, low income, Measurement, per capita income, Population, Sprawl, Standard Urban Model, Transportation, Urban Giants, Urban Technology, Urbanization, Wages, WP

Publication metadata (extracted from the content)

Authors: Remi Jedwab, Prakash Loungani, Anthony Yezer
Date: September 20, 2019
Series: Working Paper No. 2019/203
Issue: 203
Volume: 2019
Pages: 55
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513513782.001
ISBN: 9781513513782
ISSN: 1018-5941

Source: "How Should We Measure City Size? Theory and Evidence Within and Across Rich and Poor Countries", Remi Jedwab, Prakash Loungani, and Anthony Yezer, IMF Working Papers, September 20, 2019.