In this reply to Peter Taylor, three points are made: Peter Taylor is correct in stating that I have not tested the 'Jacobs hypothesis'; the 'Jacobs model' (as I understand it) is, I suggest, unverifiable; and, continuing from my original article, I restate the argument that 'cities', independently, are (probably) not sources of economic growth. I end with a few words on the problem of using the term 'city' as an independent variable to explain economic growth.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Encyclopaedia Britannica (1960) Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Vol. 21, p. 882. Chicago, IL: William Benton, Publisher.
2.
Fujita, M. and Thisse, J.-F. (2002) Economics of Agglomeration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3.
Fukuyama, F. (1995) Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity . New York: The Free Press.
4.
Henderson, V. (2003) Marshall's scale economies. Journal of Urban Economics, 53, pp. 1-28.
5.
Jacobs, J. (1969) The Economy of Cities. New York : Vintage Books.
6.
Jacobs, J. (1980) The Question of Separatism: Quebec and the Struggle for Sovereignty. New York: Vintage Books.
7.
Jacobs, J. (1984) Cities and the Wealth of Nations. New York: Vintage Books.
8.
Krugman, P. (1996) Making sense of the competitiveness debate. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 12, pp. 17-25.
9.
Landis, D.S. (1998) The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some are so Rich and Others so Poor. New York: Norton & Co.
10.
Polèse, M. (2005) Cities and national economic growth: a reappraisal, UrbanStudies, 42(8), pp. 1429-1451.
11.
Polèse, M. and Shearmur, R. (2004) Culture, Language and the location of high-order service functions: the case of Montreal and Toronto, Economic Geography, 80(4), pp. 329-350.