Full Citation

Title: Frontier workers and the seedbeds of inequality and prosperity

Citation Type: Journal Article

Forthcoming?: Yes

ISBN:

ISSN: 1468-2702

DOI: 10.1093/jeg/lbad018

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Abstract: This article examines the role of work at the cutting of technological change—frontier work—as a driver of prosperity and spatial income inequality. Using new methods and data, we analyze the geography and incomes of frontier workers from 1880 to 2019. Initially, frontier work is concentrated in a set of ‘seedbed’ locations, contributing to rising spatial inequality through powerful localized wage premiums. As technologies mature, the economic distinctiveness of frontier work diminishes, as ultimately happened to cities like Manchester and Detroit. Our work uncovers a plausible general origin story of the unfolding of spatial income inequality.

Url: https://academic.oup.com/joeg/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jeg/lbad018/7238802

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Connor, Dylan Shane; Kemeny, Tom; Storper, Michael

Periodical (Full): Journal of Economic Geography

Issue:

Volume:

Pages: 1-27

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Poverty and Welfare

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