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PRWP

Reproducibility package for Beyond The Urban Sweet Spot: Firm-Level Evidence Of Over-Agglomeration In Mongolia’s Capital

2026
Get Reproducibility Package
Reference ID
RR_MNG_2026_637
Author(s)
Jose Luis Diaz Sanchez, Mijiddorj Lkhagvasuren
Collections
World Bank Policy Research Working Papers
Metadata
JSON
Created on
Jun 03, 2026
Last modified
Jun 03, 2026
  • Overview
  • Reproducibility Package
  • Description
  • Scope and coverage
  • Disclaimer
  • Access and rights
  • Contacts
  • Information on metadata

    • Overview

    Abstract

    This paper provides the first firm-level assessment of agglomeration economies in Mongolia, focusing on Ulaanbaatar, the country’s dominant urban center. Using data from the 2021 Enterprise Census, we
    estimate total factor productivity (TFP) for a large sample of enterprises and examine its relationship with localization, urban diversity, and peer productivity. The results indicate robust positive agglomeration
    effects, alongside suggestive evidence of diminishing returns to localization consistent with an inverted U-shaped pattern. These nonlinearities are most apparent in Ulaanbaatar and in manufacturing, although they prove sensitive to alternative agglomeration and productivity measures. While the cross-sectional nature of the data limits causal inference, the analysis offers new micro-level evidence on how
    spatial concentration interacts with congestion, infrastructure strain, and potential spatial misallocation. The findings underscore the importance of urban planning, infrastructure investment, and the development of regional hubs to sustain productivity growth in Mongolia’s highly concentrated urban system, with implications for diversification beyond mining.

    Reproducibility Package

    Scripts
    Get Reproducibility Package
    File name
    RR_MNG_2026_637
    Zip package
    RR_MNG_2026_637.zip
    Title
    Reproducibility package for Beyond The Urban Sweet Spot: Firm-Level Evidence Of Over-Agglomeration In Mongolia’s Capital
    Date
    2026-05
    Dependencies
    R dependencies are listed in the file renv.lock.
    Instructions
    See README in reproducibility package.
    Notes
    Computational reproducibility verified by Development Impact (DECDI) Analytics team, World Bank.
    Source code repository
    Repository name URI
    Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) https://reproducibility.worldbank.org
    Software
    Name
    R
    Version
    4.5.1

    Reproducibility

    Technology environment

    Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
    • OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
    • Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6226R CPU @ 2.90GHz
    • Memory available: 32.0 GB
    Technology requirements

    Runtime: ~5 minutes.
    Reproduction instructions

    To reproduce the findings in this paper, a replicator must:

    1. Secure Access to Data: Access the datasets not included in the package. See the Datasets section for more details.
    2. Run the Package:
    • Open the R project Replication_code_Agglomeration_WP.Rproj.
    • Restore the environment by running renv::restore() and following the prompts.
    • Open the replication_agglomeration.R and run the code.

    Since some of the original data cannot be redistributed, the package includes the outputs produced by the authors, which can be used to review the results presented in the paper.

    Data

    Datasets
    Name
    Enterprise Census of Mongolia 2021
    Note
    Source: National Statistics Office (NSO) of Mongolia. Access date: February 2025. File location: data/Data_AANT2021.sav.
    Access policy
    Data is publicly available but does not allow redistribution and is not included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Custom license
    Data URL
    https://nada.nso.mn/mn/index.php/catalog/AANBT/
    Citation
    National Statistics Office (NSO) of Mongolia. 2021. "Enterprise Census of Mongolia" [dataset]. Accessed February 2025. https://nada.nso.mn/mn/index.php/catalog/AANBT/
    Name
    Enterprise Census of Mongolia (2021) – Ulaanbaatar District-Level Identifier
    Note
    Source: National Statistics Office (NSO) of Mongolia. Access date: March 2025. File location: data/AANT1_UB_Dist_Soumcode.sav. Description: Contains Ulaanbaatar city district-level identifiers (Soum_code) disaggregating it into 9 districts.
    Access policy
    Data access was granted directly to the study authors by the data owners/managers. It was obtained with a custom data license that does not allow for redistribution and is not included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Custom license
    Citation
    National Statistics Office (NSO) of Mongolia. 2025. "Ulaanbaatar District-Level Identifier for Enterprise Census 2021" [dataset]. Accessed March 2025.
    Name
    Administrative Boundaries – Mongolia (Levels 0–2)
    Note
    Source: National Statistical Office of Mongolia, obtained through the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). Access date: March 2025. File location: data/mng-administrative-divisions-shapefiles/. Description: Contains shapefiles at Level 0 (country), Level 1 (aimag), and Level 2 (soum).
    Access policy
    Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Creative Commons Attribution for Intergovernmental Organisations (CC BY-IGO)
    License URL
    https://data.humdata.org/faqs/licenses
    Data URL
    https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cod-ab-mng
    Citation
    National Statistical Office of Mongolia. 2020. "Mongolia Administrative Boundaries" [dataset]. Accessed March 2025. https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cod-ab-mng
    Name
    Administrative Boundaries – Mongolia (Level 3)
    Note
    Source: Christopher M. Free, personal site. Access date: March 2025. File location: data/ulaanbaatar_mongolian.kmz. Description: Contains Level 3 (bag/khoroo) boundaries for Ulaanbaatar. Used for illustrative purposes only.
    Access policy
    Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Custom license
    Data URL
    https://chrismfree.com/mongolia-gis-data/
    Citation
    Free, Christopher M. 2025. "Mongolia GIS Data – Ulaanbaatar Level 3 Boundaries" [dataset]. Accessed March 2025. https://chrismfree.com/mongolia-gis-data/
    Name
    High Resolution Population Data
    Note
    Source: AI for Good at Meta and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University, obtained through the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX). Access date: March 2025. File location: data/population_mng_2018-10-01.csv. Description: Population estimates at 30-meter spatial resolution. Used for illustrative purposes only (Figure 2).
    Access policy
    Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Creative Commons Attribution International (CC BY)
    License URL
    https://data.humdata.org/faqs/licenses
    Data URL
    https://data.humdata.org/dataset/mongolia-high-resolution-population-density-maps-demographic-estimates
    Citation
    Meta AI for Good. 2018. "High Resolution Population Density Maps – Mongolia" [dataset]. Accessed March 2025. https://ai.meta.com/ai-for-good/datasets/high-resolution-population-density-maps/
    Name
    Mongolia Time Use Survey, 2011 and 2023
    Note
    Source: National Statistics Office (NSO) of Mongolia. Years: 2011 and 2023. Access date: March 2025. File location: data/TUS11 and data/TUS23.
    Access policy
    Data is publicly available but does not allow redistribution and is not included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Custom license
    Data URL
    http://web.nso.mn/nada/index.php/catalog/90; http://web.nso.mn/nada/index.php/catalog/192
    Citation
    National Statistics Office (NSO) of Mongolia. 2011 and 2023. "Mongolia Time Use Survey" [dataset]. Accessed March 2025. http://web.nso.mn/nada/index.php/catalog/90; http://web.nso.mn/nada/index.php/catalog/192
    Name
    Ulaanbaatar Points of Interest (POI)
    Note
    Source: Overture Maps Foundation. Access date: March 2025. File location: data/ulaanbaatar.geojson. Description: Geospatial dataset of real-world locations in Ulaanbaatar (businesses, schools, hospitals, landmarks, etc.).
    Access policy
    Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
    License
    Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL)
    License URL
    https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/
    Data URL
    https://docs.overturemaps.org/getting-data/
    Citation
    Overture Maps Foundation. 2025. "Ulaanbaatar Points of Interest" [dataset]. Accessed March 2025. https://docs.overturemaps.org/getting-data/
    Data statement

    Some data is restricted and has not been included in the reproducibility package. For more details, refer to the README file.

    Description

    Output
    Type
    Working Paper
    Title
    Beyond The Urban Sweet Spot: Firm-Level Evidence Of Over-Agglomeration In Mongolia’s Capital
    Description
    Policy Research Working Papers (PRWP)
    Authors
    Author Affiliation Email
    Jose Luis Diaz Sanchez World Bank jdiazsanchez@worldbank.org
    Mijiddorj Lkhagvasuren World Bank mlkhagvasuren1@worldbank.org
    Date of production

    2026-05-26

    Scope and coverage

    Geographic locations
    Location Code
    Mongolia MNG
    Keywords
    Clusters Localization Economies Spatial Concentration Productivity
    Topics
    ID Topic Parent topic ID Vocabulary Vocabulary URI
    C23 Panel Data Models • Spatio-temporal Models C2 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    R10 General R1 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    R11 Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes R1 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    R12 Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity R1 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    R15 Econometric and Input–Output Models • Other Models R1 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)

    Disclaimer

    Disclaimer

    The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.

    Access and rights

    License
    Name URI
    MIT License https://opensource.org/license/mit
    World Bank IGO Rider https://github.com/worldbank/metadata-editor/blob/main/WB-IGO-RIDER.md

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email
    Jose Luis Diaz Sanchez World Bank jdiazsanchez@worldbank.org
    Reproducibility WBG World Bank reproducibility@worldbank.org

    Information on metadata

    Producers
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation Role
    Reproducibility WBG DECDI World Bank - Development Impact Department Verification and preparation of metadata
    Date of Production

    2026-05-26
    Document version

    1
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