摘要：There are sound theoretical and empirical bases for expecting productivity and innovative benefits for
businesses located in large urban areas, and for those located closer to others in the same or related
industries. However, the size and precise origin of these effects remain uncertain and complicated by
potential endogeneity from businesses’ location choice. English football is proposed as a natural
experiment with immobile businesses and evidence is presented from the English Premier League (EPL)
that suggests urban scale affects clubs’ relative performance. It is found that teams in larger
conurbations perform relatively better, and it is suggested these benefits probably originate from the
sport’s novel labour market.
关键词：urbanization ; agglomeration ; business performance ; sport
