The World Is Not Yet Flat : Transport Costs Matter!

Behrens, Kristian ; Brown, W. Mark ; Bougna, Theophile

The MIT Press

关键词: TRANSPORT;    LOGISTICS;    TRUCKING RATES;    INDUSTRIAL CONCENTRATION;    GEOSPATIAL ECONOMICS;   

DOI  :  10.1162/rest_a_00729
RP-ID  :  126629

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Using micro-level commodity flow data and micro-geographic plant-level data, we construct industry-specific ad valorem trucking rate series and measures of geographic concentration to provide evidence on the relationship between transport costs and agglomeration. We find that low transport cost industries display significantly more geographic concentration in the cross-sectional dimension, and that falling transport costs agglomerate industries in the panel dimension. The effects are large: the fall in trucking rates between 1992 and 2008 implied a 20% increase in geographic concentration on average, all else equal.