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FIRM HETEROGENEITY, MULTIPLANT CHOICE, AND AGGLOMERATION
Author(s) -
Saito Hisamitsu
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of regional science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1467-9787
pISSN - 0022-4146
DOI - 10.1111/jors.12163
Subject(s) - productivity , relocation , investment (military) , economies of agglomeration , sorting , production (economics) , business , economics , industrial organization , microeconomics , economic growth , law , politics , computer science , political science , programming language
We examine the organization and location choice of heterogeneous firms in a two‐region economy. When some high‐productivity firms engage in multiplant production, a reduction in transport costs causes two changes in a small region: the closure of plants by high‐productivity multiplant firms and the relocation of low‐productivity single‐plant firms to the region. In the presence of high‐productivity multiplant firms, therefore, a decline in transport costs reinforces the spatial sorting of firms by productivity, enlarging the productivity gap between large and small regions. Conversely, reducing investment costs weakens the spatial sorting effects on regional productivity disparities.