Non-routine activities and the within-city geography of jobs

Johan Larsson

Urban Studies, 2017, vol. 54, issue 8, 1808-1833

Abstract: Externalities are believed to drive the productivity benefits of cities, and also of dense sub-parts within cities, e.g. the central business district (CBD). Recent research claims that density externalities accrue mostly to non-routine activities, and that their effects, e.g. human capital spillovers, attenuate sharply with distance. Consistent with these claims, I demonstrate strong clustering tendencies in non-routine professions as evidenced by job-switching patterns, specifically switchers’ distances moved between employers. Individual-level geo-coded data for switchers within Sweden’s metropolitan areas are used to illustrate that employees hired to non-routine occupations tend to switch to jobs close to the previous work establishment, while blue collar workers show dispersion. The differences are chiefly explained by (1) non-routine activities concentrate in the CBD (the strongest effect) and local employment centres, (2) non-routine activities cluster also outside of centres, and (3) industry-specific effects. The patterns are consistent with the importance of sharply attenuating non-market interactions (e.g. knowledge spillovers) in the production of non-routine products and services.

Keywords: agglomeration; city planning; human capital externalities; job-switching; matching; è šé›†ã€; 城市规划ã€; 人力资本外部性ã€; 跳槽ã€; åŒ¹é… (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:54:y:2017:i:8:p:1808-1833

DOI: 10.1177/0042098016643266

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