The return of Zipf: Towards a further understanding of the rank-size distribution

Abstract

We offer a general-equilibrium economic approach to Zipf's Law or, more generally, the rank-size distribution-the striking empirical regularity concerning the size distribution of cities. We provide some further understanding of Zipf's Law by incorporating negative feedbacks (congestion) in a popular model of economic geography and international trade. This model allows the powers of agglomeration and spreading to be in long-run equilibrium, which enhances our understanding of the existence of a rank-size distribution of cities.