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.