Amazon recently released their "shortlist" of 20 cities, whose proposals to host the company's second North American Headquarters have successfully moved forward in the bidding war. Amazon will now spend the next few months diving deeper into each individual offer, no doubt utilizing the spirit of the competition in order to maximize the incentives, subsidies, and other giveaways thrown their way by luring municipalities. 

Moving into round two, many are starting to wage bets based off of clues within the shortlist. Richard Florida, an influential urban studies theorist at the University of Toronto, has already put his money on New York, where the company tapped two potential locations (New York City and Newark), and D.C, where they have picked three (D.C, Northern Virginia, and Montgomery County). That said, the popular Irish bookmaker Paddy Power places Atlanta, Georgia at the top of the list, with 2-to-1 odds of winning the bid. 

The retail giant has publicly stated that it is looking for a region that has a well-educated workforce, a diverse population, international airports and public transit, among other attributes. However, as Joe Cortright, an urban economist who also runs the virtual urban policy think tank City Observatory, points out, there are two more factors one should consider when weighing the odds of success in a city's favor. 

Cortright reminds that "Amazon’s decision is likely to be dictated by internal business strategy factors, especially what kinds of technologies and markets it wants to develop." Where Amazon chooses to locate its new headquarters will say a lot about what kind of company it sees itself becoming. "Amazon may view itself as a rival to established media and entertainment companies, in which case Los Angeles (movies, TV), New York (print, advertising), or Washington (news) may make the most sense." Or, if the company, sees "itself as a software company, then perhaps it will want to go some place like Pittsburgh."

The second thing to keep in mind is the possibility of Amazon announcing multiple headquarters. "Once the company has committed to put some functions in HQ2, it may find it simpler and far more productive to establish an HQ3 and an HQ4 in other cities that have the specialized labor they need" Cortright argues. Choosing multiple headquarters also allows the company to make the most of its current negotiating power.