Growth versus 95th Percentile Population Density, Medium and Large Metropolitan Areas

Rappaport proposes that an economy is a spatial equilibrium: net flows of residents and employment slowly reach a balance. People may not be able to benefit by moving to a larger city because even with higher wages and more amenities comes a higher cost of living, higher housing prices, and other diseconomies. Businesses face similar problems, too. The combined effects of these flows of people and jobs accumulate slowly over time.

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Economic Review

This image is embedded in ...