Economic Growth of Agglomerations and Geographic Concentration of Industries – Evidence for Germany

According to the authors, the vast majority of regions in West Germany, and the EU, have become more similar in terms of per-capita income and productivity between 1980 and 2000. But a number of rich areas - generally large agglomerations - have succeeded in departing from this trend of convergence. They are continuing to rise above the average productivity level. The authors examine whether this development can also be seen as due to changes in the spatial distribution of economic sectors.