Empirical evidence suggests that local jurisdictions are internally more heterogeneous than standard sorting models predict. We develop a dynamic multi-region model, with fluctuating regional house prices, where an owner-occupying households location choice depends on its current wealth and its current match and involves both consumption and investment considerations. The relative weights of the consumption and investment motives in the location choice determine the equilibrium pattern of residential sorting, with a strong investment (consumption) motive implying sorting according to match (wealth). The model predicts a negative relation between size of house price fluctuations and residential sorting in the match dimension. Also movers should be more sorted than stayers. These predictions are consistent with evidence from US metropolitan areas when income, age and education are used as proxies for the match.

This article examines: How the state and local government workforce has changed in recent years; Which occupations are or will be most needed by state and local governments in the next decade; Whether, if current trends hold, compensation and benefit packages offered by state and local governments will help or hinder their efforts to attract qualified, talented employees

We study potential economic benefits of immigration stemming from two factors: first, that immigrantsbring not only their labor supply with them, but also their consumption demands; and second, thatimmigrants may have a comparative advantage in the production of ethnic goods. Using data on theuniverse of business establishments located in California between 1992 and 2002 matched with Censusof Population data, we find some evidence that immigrant inflows boost employment in the retail sector,which is non-traded and a non-intensive user of immigrant labor. We find that immigration is associatedwith fewer stand-alone retail stores, and a greater number of large and in particular big-box retailers evidence that likely contradicts a diversity-enhancing effect of immigration. On the other hand, focusingmore sharply on the restaurant sector, for which we can better identify the types of products consumedby customers, the evidence indicates that immigration is associated with increased ethnic diversityof restaurants.

This paper outlines past and current demographics of the state and localgovernment workforce, contrasted against the demographics of the private sector, andexplores the projected public sector workforce needs of the future as the Baby Boomgeneration begins to retire. This paper also briefly details issues that state and localgovernment executives describe as major challenges their governments are facing as theylook to recruit and retain the next wave of public servants.

Since the 1990s, there has been increasing policy interest in the role grandparents play in raising and providing care for their children. Family structure is particularly relevant for the well-being of individuals in co-residential families. We use data from the 2000 and 2007 American Community Survey to (1) enumerate and describe family structure diversity within co-residential grandparent-grandchild households; (2) identify which grandparents take primary responsibility for their grandchildren and how this varies by family structure; and (3) employ multivariate methods to investigate the link between family structure and well-being for grandchildren living with their grandparents.

We use new data on entries and exits of US daily newspapers from 1869 to 2004 to estimate effects on political participation, party vote shares, and electoral competitiveness. Our identification strategy exploits the precise timing of these events and allows for the possibility of confounding trends. We find that newspapers have a robust positive effect on political participation, with one additional newspaper increasing both presidential and congressional turnout by approximately 0.3 percentage points. Newspaper competition is not a key driver of turnout: our effect is driven mainly by the first newspaper in a market, and the effect of a second or third paper is significantly smaller. The effect on presidential turnout diminishes after the introduction of radio and television, while the estimated effect on congressional turnout remains similar up to recent years. We find no evidence that partisan newspapers affect party vote shares, with confidence intervals that rule out even moderate-sized effects. We find no clear evidence that newspapers systematically help or hurt incumbents.

Recent research has found that maternal employment is associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity. This paper explores mechanisms for that correlation. We estimate models of instrumental variables using a unique dataset, the American Time Use Survey, that measure the effect of maternal employment on the mothers allocation of time to activities related to child diet and physical activity. We find that employed women spend significantly less time cooking, eating with their children, and playing with their children, and are more likely to purchase prepared foods. We find suggestive evidence that these decreases in time are only partly offset by husbands and partners. These findings offer plausible mechanisms for the association of maternal employment with childhood obesity.

The valuation of changes in consumption of addictive goods resulting from policy interventions presents a challengefor costbenefit analysts. Consumer surplus losses from reduced consumption of addictive goods that are measuredrelative to market demand schedules overestimate the social cost of cessation interventions. This article seeks toshow that consumer surplus losses measured using a non-addicted demand schedule provide a better assessment ofsocial cost. Specifically, (1) it develops an addiction model that permits an estimate of the smokers compensatingvariation for the elimination of addiction; (2) it employs a contingent valuation survey of current smokers toestimate their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a treatment that would eliminate addiction; (3) it uses the estimate ofWTP from the survey to calculate the fraction of consumer surplus that should be viewed as consumer value; and(4) it provides an estimate of this fraction. The exercise suggests that, as a tentative first and rough rule-of-thumb,only about 75% of the loss of the conventionally measured consumer surplus should be counted as social cost forpolicies that reduce the consumption of cigarettes. Additional research to estimate this important rule-of-thumb isdesirable to address the various caveats relevant to this study

Demographers have long studied the disparity in occupational status and income between the white and the various disadvantaged minority populations in the United States. Most studies have found that while minorities have yet to reach parity with the majority white population, there has been a substantial decrease in the gap in professional attainment between college educated workers across race and ethnicities. This paper builds upon prior research by examining the differences across race and ethnicity among workers in the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) fields in the United States. The data for the study are from the 1980-2008 Integrated Public Use Micro-data Series-Current Population Survey. The findings are placed in the context of the changes in the American occupational structure and the implications for future studies of the STEM field population.

In recent years, studies examining the racial identification of mixed-race individuals on surveys and the U.S. Census have proliferated. The majority of these studies either use parental racial information or a comparison of answers to the race question in different contexts to identify a multiracial population. This paper proposes another method for identifying a multiracial population that is broader and potentially more historical in its understanding of its multiracial heritage, by comparing the ancestry responses on the 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census. The analysis clearly demonstrates that the identification patterns of multiracial individuals vary in systematic ways depending on which groups are involved that correspond to historical evidence on the dynamics of racial boundaries.

This paper emphasizes the role of wage growth in shaping work incentives. It provides an analytical framework for labor supply in the presence of a return to labor market experience and aggregate productivity growth. A key finding of the theory is that there is an interaction between these two forms of wage growth that explains why aggregate productivity growth can affect employment rates in steady state. The model thus speaks to an enduring puzzle in macroeconomics by uncovering a channel from the declines in trend aggregate wage growth that accompanied the productivity slowdown of the 1970s to persistent declines in employment. The paper also shows that the return to experience for high school dropouts has fallen substantially since the 1970s, which further contributes to the secular decline in employment rates. Taken together, the mechanisms identified in the paper can account for all of the increase in nonemployment among white male high school dropouts from 1968 to 2006. For all white males, it accounts for approximately one half of the increase in the aggregate nonemployment rate over the same period.

Over the past several years, policymakers and business leaders throughout New England have expressed concern regarding the regions ability to attract and retain skilled workers, given the economic climate of the region compared with other parts of the nation. Indeed, net domestic migration for New England became increasingly negative after the 2001 recession, as the number of people leaving the region exceeded those entering.Examining the factors underlying these migration trends is important for determining what role, if any, public policy might play in addressing their potential impact on the regions labor supply. Using a logistic migration model, this paper examines the relative role of economic factorsnamely labor market conditions, per capita incomes, and housing affordabilityin determining domestic state-to-state migration flows. Using such flows from the Internal Revenue Service for each of the 48 states in the continental United States from 1977 through 2006, the model controls for demographic characteristics of origin states as well as state-specific fixed amenities, such as climate, culture, and natural features.The models estimates show that while all three measures of relative economic conditions are significant determinants of migration, the magnitude of their impact varies. The estimates also show that the impact of these economic factors on state-to-state migration flows has changed considerably over time. For example, the importance of per capita income as a determining factor has fallen considerably since the late 1970s, while that of housing affordability has risen.Forecasts of net domestic migration based on the model show that while New England will continue to lose individuals to other states during 2009, the pace of out-migration will likely slow, particularly in Massachusetts. This is likely due to the fact that both the region and the Bay State are performing slightly better than the nation as a whole during the current recession. However, this trend may reverse itself if economic conditions deteriorate in the New England states relative to other parts of the country.___________________________________________________________

Empirical research on cities starts with a spatial equilibrium condition: workers and firms are assumed to be indifferent across space. This condition implies that research on cities is different from research on countries, and that work on places within countries needs to consider population, income, and housing prices simultaneously. Housing supply elasticity will determine whether urban success reveals itself in the form of more people or higher incomes. Urban economists generally accept the existence of agglomeration economies, which exist when productivity rises with density, but estimating the magnitude of those economies is difficult. Some manufacturing firms cluster to reduce the costs of moving goods, but this force no longer appears to be important in driving urban success. Instead, modern cities are far more dependent on the role that density can play in speeding the flow of ideas. Finally, urban economics has some insights to offer related topics such as growth theory, national income accounts, public economics, and housing prices.

In this paper, I develop a general equilibrium model of life cycle labor supply with both an intensive and extensive margin of labor supply. I use the model to assess the effects of changes to various features of social security on labor supply outcomes. Of particular interest are changes to the scale of the program and to the relevant eligibility rules. I find that the cross-country differences in social security programs account for 35-40% of the differences in aggregate hours worked between the U.S. and Belgium, France and Germany. Furthermore, I find that both the scale of the program and the eligibility rules are important determinants of retirement behavior.