Full Citation

Title: The Sources of Urban Development Wages, Housing, and Amenity Gaps Across American Cities

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2012

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Abstract: This paper asks whether worker utility levelscomposed of wages, rents, and amenitiesare being equalized among American cities. Using microdata on U.S. urban workers in 1980 and 2000, little evidence of equalization is found. Comparable workers earn higher real wages in large cities, where amenities are also concentrated. Moreover, population growth between 1980 and 2000 has not been significantly different in low- and high-utility cities, suggesting that other forces are at work shaping the sorting processes that match workers and firms. We outline an alternative view of the drivers of change in the American urban system, and urban development more generally, by applying theory from economic geography.

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Authors: Storper, Michael; Kemeny, Thomas

Periodical (Full): Journal of Regional Science

Issue: 1

Volume: 52

Pages: 85-108

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Housing and Segregation, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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