More than half a century ago, a classic article by the economist Benjamin Chinitz in the American Economic Review, "Contrasts in Agglomeration: New York and Pittsburgh," sought to answer a vexing question about the mechanisms of regional economic development. He pointed out a connection between a region’s industrial structure and its ability to generate entrepreneurship, innovation, and new growth.
"For a given size of area," Chinitz wrote, "the entrepreneurial supply curve is also a function of certain traditions and elements of the social structure which are heavily influenced by the character of the area’s historic specializations." And he continued: "The proposition I offer is this: An industry which is competitively organized—in the neoclassical sense of the term 'competition'—has more entrepreneurs per dollar of output than an industry which is organized along oligopolistic lines."
To read the original article: Entrepreneurship and Urban Growth: A Fresh Look Using Proximity to Mines - Jobs & Economy - The Atlantic Cities
