Cities, tasks and skills

S. Kok*, B.J. ter Weel

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This research applies a task-based approach to measure and interpret changes in the employment structure of the 168 largest U.S. cities in the period 1990-2009. As a result of technological change some tasks can be placed at distance, while others require proximity. We construct a measure of task connectivity to investigate which tasks are more likely to require proximity relative to others. Our results suggest that cities with higher shares of connected tasks experienced higher employment growth. This result is robust to a variety of other explanations including industry composition, routinization, and the complementarity between skills and cities.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)856-892
Number of pages37
JournalJournal of Regional Science
Volume54
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2014

Keywords

  • LABOR-MARKET OUTCOMES
  • DIVISION-OF-LABOR
  • OCCUPATIONAL AGE STRUCTURE
  • INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY
  • WORKER ORGANIZATION
  • WAGE INEQUALITY
  • GROWTH
  • POLARIZATION
  • US
  • AGGLOMERATION

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