Seminar: Yanos Zylberberg

Abstract: Does industrial concentration shape the life and death of cities? We identify set-tlements from historical maps of England and Wales (1790–1820), isolate exogenousvariation in their late 19th-century size and industrial concentration, and estimatethe causal impact of size and concentration on later dynamics. Industrial concentra-tion has a negative effect on long-run productivity—independent of industry trendsand consistent with cross-industry Jacobs externalities. A spatial model quanti-fies the role of fundamentals, industry trends, and Jacobs externalities in shapingindustry-city dynamics and isolates a new, dynamic trade-off in the design of place-based policies