Urban versus Rural Firms: Is there a Spatial Heterogeneity of Labour Demand?

Firmes urbaines versus firmes rurales: y a t'il une hétérogénéité spatiale de la demande de travail ?

Jean-Pierre Huiban, Cecile Detang-Dessendre and Francis Aubert ()
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Francis Aubert: CESAER - Centre d'Economie et de Sociologie Rurales Appliquées à l'Agriculture et aux Espaces Ruraux - ENESAD - Etablissement National d'Enseignement Supérieur Agronomique de Dijon - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique

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Abstract: This paper analyses the spatial heterogeneity of labour demand. Our main assumption is that for each location there is a combination of factors which is the most efficient, given the endowment of the location in terms of technology access and the relative cost of factors. We estimate our model using a panel of more than 1000 industrial firms over a six-year period. The contribution of skilled labour is emphasised in the firms located in urban areas, unskilled labour in rural firms, and capital in periurban units. The functional distribution of jobs also plays a discriminating role: direct production and similar functions seem to be more concentrated in periurban and rural areas, whereas tertiary functions are clearly assigned to urban units. We then make conclusions as to the existence of different technical paths of growth, with high productivity growth and a dramatic decline of demand for unskilled labour in urban areas, and the maintenance of a labour-intensive method of production in rural areas.

Keywords: rural firm; urban firm; labour demand; industry location; qualification professionnelle; localisation des industries; main d'oeuvre; milieu rural (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004-11
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01485720v1
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Published in Environment and Planning A, 2004, 36 (11), pp.2033-2045. ⟨10.1068/a36207⟩

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Journal Article: Urban versus Rural Firms: Is there a Spatial Heterogeneity of Labour Demand? (2004)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01485720

DOI: 10.1068/a36207

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