What drives the spatial wage premium in formal and informal labor markets? The case of Ecuador
研究厄瓜多尔城市中集聚外部性对工人工资的影响，发现非正规部门工人未能从集聚中显著获益，而正规部门工人的收益主要来自更好的工作匹配和学习效应。
Abstract This article investigates the incidence of agglomeration externalities in Ecuador, a small‐sized, middle‐income developing country. In particular, we analyze the role of the informal sector within these relations, since informal employment accounts for a significant part of total employment in the developing countries. Using individual level data and instrumental variable techniques, we investigate the impact of spatial externalities, in terms of population density, local specialization and urban size, on the wages of workers in Ecuadorian cities. The results show that spatial externalities matter also for a small developing country. Moreover, analysis of the interaction between spatial externalities and informality shows that, on average, workers employed in the informal sector do not enjoy significant benefits from agglomeration externalities. Finally, by investigating the possible channels behind spatial agglomeration gains we show that the advantages from agglomeration for formal sector workers may well be accounted for by better job‐quality matches and, to a lesser extent, by learning externalities. For informal sector workers, our findings also suggest possible gains from job changes, which offset a penalty for remaining employed in the same occupation.