Spatial Distribution of US Employment in an Urban Wage-Efficiency Setting

José Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal (), José Alberto Molina and Jorge Velilla ()
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José Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal: University of Zaragoza
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Jose Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal ()

No 9720, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: In this paper, we analyze the spatial distribution of US employment and earnings against an urban wage-efficiency background, where leisure and effort at work are complementary. Using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) for the period 2003-2014, we analyze the spatial distribution of employment across metropolitan areas. We also empirically study the relationship between individual earnings and commuting and leisure. Our empirical results show that employment is mostly concentrated in metropolitan cores, and that earnings increase with "expected" commuting time, which gives empirical support to our urban wage-efficiency theory. Furthermore, we use Geographical Information System models to show that there is no common pattern of commuting and the employees-to-unemployed rate, although we find higher wages in comparatively crowded states, where average commuting times are also higher.

Keywords: urban wage-efficiency; earnings; commuting; leisure; American Time Use Survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J21 J22 J31 R12 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2016-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published - published in: Journal of Regional Science, 2018, 58, 141-158

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Related works:
Working Paper: Spatial distribution of US employment in an urban wage-efficiency setting (2016)
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