Front Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- About the Authors -- Abbreviations -- Executive Summary -- 1. Place, Productivity, and Prosperity: An Introduction -- Introduction -- The Attraction of Place-Based Policies -- Three Forces Shaping the Economic Landscape -- Lagging Places, Left-Behind People-and Perhaps, Missed Opportunities -- Notes -- References -- 2. Agglomeration Economies, Productivity, and the Persistence of Place -- Introduction -- A Virtuous Cycle of Economic Concentration, Higher Productivity, and More Prosperity -- The Developing Country Urban Productivity Puzzle -- Changing Drivers of Spatial Activity: The Future Isn't What It Used to Be -- Unpacking the Association of Density with Productivity -- Measuring the Benefits of Spatial Concentration -- Measuring the Full Costs of Agglomeration: Accounting for the Extra Expense of Working in Developing Country Cities -- Conclusion -- Annex 2A. Estimating Productivity, Marginal Cost, and Markups -- Notes -- References -- 3. The Promise of Labor Mobility Introduction -- Introduction -- The Evidence on Internal Migration -- The Barriers to Internal Migration -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 4. Globalization and Digital Development: Bridging Distances within Countries -- Introduction -- Globalization and Regional Growth within Countries -- How Trade Costs, Infrastructure, and Institutions Affect Growth within Countries -- The Role of Digital Connectivity in Narrowing Disparities between Regions -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 5. Lagging Places: Missed Opportunities, Left-Behind People -- Introduction -- Two Tales of Cities: Not Every Place Has Potential for Growth -- Why Is a Region Not Thriving Already? -- Three Arguments Often Used to Support Place-Based Policies for Nonviable Regions -- Complementarities, Silver Bullets, and Big Pushes.

Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 6. A Framework for Appraising Place-Based Policies -- Introduction -- Principles for Appraising Place-Based Policies -- Dealing with Challenges in Fully Appraising Policies: Using the Framework as a Heuristic Tool -- Lessons from World Bank Evaluations of Projects to Enhance Agglomeration -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 7. The Framework in Action: Appraising Transport Corridors, Economic Clusters, and Interventions to Manage Urban Congestion -- Introduction -- Corridors and Long-Distance Transport Improvements -- Spatial Economic Clusters and Special Economic Zones -- Interventions to Manage Urban Congestion -- Conclusion -- Annex 7A. Using Spatial General Equilibrium Models to Quantify the Indirect Effects of Highway Corridors in Africa -- Notes -- References -- 8. Local Economic Development Policies -- Introduction -- Entrepreneurship: The Lifeblood of Local Economic Development -- Strengthening the Enabling Environment for Entrepreneurship -- Promoting the Capabilities of Entrepreneurs -- Improving Fiscal Incentives -- Conclusion -- Annex 8A. Clear Rationales for Certain Regional Development Projects in Europe -- Annex 8B. New York's Innovation Ecosystem to Support Start-Ups -- Notes -- References -- 9. Conclusion Concluding Remarks -- Concluding Remarks -- Reference -- Boxes -- Box 2.1 The Persistent Effects of Colonial Railroads on Regional Development in Kenya -- Box 3.1 The Central Role of Migration in Long-Term Economic Growth -- Box 3.2 How Caste Boundaries Act as a Barrier to Migration in India -- Box 4.1 The Role of Complementary Conditions in Connecting People and Regions Digitally during the COVID-19 Pandemic -- Box 4.2 Digital Technologies May Exacerbate the Differences across Regions as They Cope with the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Box 5.1 Insights on Migration and Nonviable Regions from a Mining Boom Town: The Case of Kolmanskop, Namibia -- Box 5.2 Managing the Closure of Coal Mines: Achieving a Just Transition for All -- Box 5.3 Limited Policy Options for Lagging Regions When Migration Is Challenging: The Case of Colombia -- Box 5.4 Not All Places Are Equal: The Coexistence of a Low and a High Equilibrium in the Context of Regional Development -- Box 6.1 Lessons from an Analysis of Spatial Public Expenditures in the Middle East and North Africa -- Box 6.2 A Proposal for Spatial Public Expenditure Reviews -- Box 6.3 How Is the World Bank Group Assessing Place-Based Interventions? -- Box 8.1 The Positive Externalities from Improvements in Human Capital -- Box 8.2 The Persistence of Education over Time: From Jesuit Education to Production of Genetically Engineered Soy in Brazil -- Box 8.3 Strengthening a Regional Entrepreneurial and Innovation System for a Midsize City: Scale Up Manizales (Manizales Más) in Colombia -- Box 8.4 Fiscal Incentives to Overcome First-Mover Coordination Problems: The Case of Hawassa Industrial Park in Ethiopia -- Box 8.5 Applying the Duranton-Venables Framework to Design a Project to Support Businesses in Mozambique -- Figures -- Figure 1.1 Spatial Income Inequalities Are Higher in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries -- Figure 1.2 Special Economic Zones Have Increased Six-Fold over the Past Two Decades -- Figure 2.1 Economic Activity Is Highly Concentrated, Even in the Lowest-Income Countries -- Figure 2.2 Establishments, Employment, and Value Added Are Concentrated in Densely Populated Areas -- Figure 2.3 Urbanization, Economic Growth, and the Transition from Slow to Fast Growth Occur Together -- Figure 2.4 The Rise of Cities and Structural Transformation Have Gone Hand in Hand in Asia.

Figure 2.5 Urbanization and Economic Transformation Have Not Gone Hand in Hand in Africa -- Figure 2.6 Cities and Departments That Were the Most Densely Populated in 1500 Are among the Wealthiest Now in Colombia -- Figure 2.7 Agglomeration Elasticity Is a Composite of Agglomeration Benefits and Costs -- Figure 2.8 Urban Density Is Associated with Higher Firm Entry -- Figure 2.9 Meta-Analysis: Raw Elasticities Suggest Strong Agglomeration Economies in Developing Countries -- Figure 2.10 Estimated Elasticity in Developing Countries Is Lower in Services and When Using Total Factor Productivity Data -- Figure 2.11 The Agglomeration Premiums on Labor Productivity Nearly Disappear after Controlling for Urban Costs -- Figure 2.12 Efficiency Gains from Agglomeration Disappear Altogether or Become Negative after Controlling for Output Prices -- Figure 2.13 Evidence of Sterile Agglomeration: Physical Measures of Total Factor Productivity Decline with Population Density, While Costs Rise in Lower-Income Countries -- Figure 2.14 Urban Costs Are Higher in Developing Countries than in Advanced Economies -- Figure 3.1 Internal Migration Increases with Economic Development -- Figure 3.2 Migration Could Significantly Increase Consumption Potential in the Middle East and North Africa -- Figure 3.3 Denser Areas Have Better Access to Safe Drinking Water and Electricity -- Figure 3.4 Frictions in Labor Mobility Are Associated with Lesser Changes in Lifetime Utility and Fewer Job Options in Other Job Markets Following an Export Shock in Brazil -- Figure 3.5 The Value of Labor Reallocation between Agriculture and Modern Sector Jobs Is Contingent on Initial Productivity -- Figure 4.1 Participation in Technology or Knowledge-Intensive Global Value Chains Is Associated with Higher Spatial Concentration.

Figure 4.2 Trade Liberalization Is Associated with Changes in Activity in Secondary Regions but Has No Effect on Interior Regions in India -- Figure 4.3 The Impact of Improved Domestic Connectivity Is Contingent on Proximity to Ports in India -- Figure 4.4 The Distant Northeast Region in India Faces an Outsized Share of Loss in Shipment Value Following the COVID-19 Lockdown -- Figure 4.5 Trade Volume Influences Trade Costs -- Figure 4.6 Upgrades of the Golden Quadrilateral Highway Improved Plant Dynamics, but Only for Young and Productive Plants in India -- Figure 4.7 Reductions in Transport Costs When Combined with Complementary Conditions Improve Welfare in Central Asia -- Figure 4.8 The Use of E-commerce Is Positively Associated with Higher Skills and Education in Japan -- Figure B4.1.1 Fewer Jobs in Developing Countries Can Be Performed Remotely -- Figure B4.1.2 Network Equipment in Developing Countries Is Subject to Higher Tariffs -- Figure B4.2.1 Firms in Capital or Business Cities Are More Likely to Digitalize during the COVID-19 Crisis -- Figure 4.9 Local Demand (Population) Critically Determines the Location and Size of a Data Center -- Figure 5.1 Towns along Fall Lines Evolved Very Differently than Mining Towns -- Figure 5.2 Some Small Island Countries Are Very Far Away from Markets -- Figure 5.3 The Payoff (Multiplier) for Creating Jobs in the Tradable Sector is Higher for Developing Countries -- Figure 6.1 A Framework for Appraising Place-Based Policies -- Figure B6.1.1 Expenditures on Spatially Distortive Policies in the Middle East and North Africa Vary Greatly from Those of Benchmark Countries -- Figure B6.2.1 Functional Analysis of National versus Regional Innovation Programs in Poland -- Figure 7.1 While the Direct Effects of Transport Investments Are Important, the Indirect Effects Are Likely to Matter More.

Figure 7.2 The Average Accessibility to Jobs Is Quite Low in Many African Cities.