City Size, Quality of Life, and the Urbanization Deflator of the GNP: 1910-1984

Abstract

The authors attempt to determine the net effect of city size on quality of life by developing a welfare measure of urbanization. "The estimation procedure suggested in the theoretical part of the paper (section II) is implemented in the empirical part (section III) using 1980 census data from the [U.S.] PUMS (Public Use Micro Data Sample). The results indicate there is no single optimal city size, but rather a worst city size, and about 90 percent of the U.S. population reside in cities smaller than worst city size. If quality of life is related to the degree of urbanization, then long-term trends in the locational distribution of the population should be accounted for in any welfare-oriented measure of national income. One application of our results is, as indicated, the derivation of a GNP welfare deflator reflecting changes in the degree of urbanization (section IV). The findings suggest an urban deflator on the order of six to seven percentage points, which is steadily increasing at a rate of about half a percentage point per decade."

The Urbanization Deflator of the GNP, 1919-1984: Reply

“…Those interested in the historical consequences of the ever growing extent of urban disamenities in the U.S. will find in this study an attempt to replace an extrapolation based on current data with an estimate based on actual historical data. Those interested in the computational technique of estimating the overall impact of urban disamenities-i.e., the urban deflator of the GNP-will also find in Whaples' comment an important corroboration to the method of estimation and extrapolation developed by Clark, Kahn, and Ofek [1]. By far more interesting to the general reader, though, is an intriguing conjecture proposed by the author which seems to depart from the approach taken by earlier studies.…”

“…By far more interesting to the general reader, though, is an intriguing conjecture proposed by the author which seems to depart from the approach taken by earlier studies. Implicit in some of the earlier studies (e.g., Nordhaus and Tobin [2], or Clark, Kahn and Ofek [1]) is a working assumption that attributes the bulk of the growing urban disamenity to two trends: population redistribution from nonurban to urban areas, and the tendency of small cities to grow larger. Whaples, in contrast, attributes major importance to historical changes in the very nature of the overall urban disamenity.…”

Earnings Over the Life Cycle: The Mincer Earnings Function and Its Applications

“…Thus, Lewis (1986) interprets the positive union coefficient as the wage premium associated with union membership. Clark, Kahn and Ofek (1988) Because variables such as gender and race are often correlated with earnings as well as schooling and experience, the original Mincer earnings function parameters need not accurately reflect those of the entire population. As such, earnings function parameters can differ by race, gender, or location.…”

Do Higher Rents Discourage Fertility? Evidence from US Cities, 1940-2000

“…The population densities were then averaged by country (weighted by city populations). 8 Evidence on the relationship between wages and population density can be found in (Clark et. al.…”