Urbanization--from The View Of Agglomeration Economies

Since the Industrial Revolution, urbanization has being becoming a fairly common economic and social phenomenon. Urbanization has changed people's everyday life, such as their model of production, life style, living pattern and view of value. However, people's acknowledge about urbanization has still remained in appearance till now. They simply attributed the internal motive of urban outcome and development to effects of labor division and economies of scale. Unfortunately, they have not further studied the much deeper motive mechanism- agglomeration economies. In fact, it is agglomeration economies that can accurately explain the foundational motive of the development of urbanization.Cities and towns are the spacious patterns on which urban economy relies. As for its essence, urban is the spacious organization form which agglomeration economies and its undertakers depend on. Generally speaking, agglomeration economies mean the benefits gained or costs saved that result from the spacious concentration of enterprises and residents. Agglomeration economies are both the most foundational force that decides small towns' formation and development and the inner motive of their scale expansion. Theoretically speaking, agglomeration economies are not only the original cause of urban emergence, but one of the basic motives that promote cities to develop from lower stage to higher stage, from separate pattern to closely connected group form.Agglomeration economies may be produced by similar enterprises' concentration, for this helps technology innovation to spread and diffuse and reduce the transaction costs because of the enlarged market. Meanwhile it can be obtained from different enterprises' gathering as well, since this situation is advantageous to exerting labor division and cooperation which bring about higher productivity efficiency and reduce of transport expense and time. By the way, Agglomeration economies reflect not only in production but also in living or consumption.After precisely understanding the definition of agglomeration economies and combining it with the current urban situation of China, the author makes systematic analysis on the flexibility of the urbanization strategy.After empirical analysis and comparative research, this thesis conclude that it is impossible for China to choose the path of only developing large cities especially under the condition of backward infrastructure and their unbalanced distribution. In practice, the diffusion of agglomeration economies unnecessarily rely on urban scale, small towns also have stronger effects of agglomeration economies. Therefore, as the growth points of certain regions, small towns will play a more important role under the special economic and social condition of China.The concentration of village and township enterprises, the shift of the rural surplus labor forces and the expansion of urban tertiary industry form an integrated system during the course of urbanization, with towns being the vital support. The village and township enterprises' gathering in small towns will attract more rural surplus labor forces to find jobs there, and the successful shift the labor forces also helps to break through the population threshold of the tertiary industry, which accomplishes the purpose of the development of urban tertiary industry. Hence, urbanization becomes the core of these three problems.This thesis starts with the theory of agglomeration economics, then closely joins with such current situations as the development of village township enterprises, the shift of rural surplus labor forces and the development of urban tertiary industry. After systematic analyzing the problems arising in the course of development, the author deeply studies the unique functions in the upper three fields. In the end, the thesis points out that it is the relative institutional transition's lag that makes the urbanization fall behind. Therefore, the solution to the problem lies in establishing new institutional frame and carrying out relative institutional innovation to...