Organizing Diversity: An Examination of U.S. Metropolitan Areas in the '90s

Even if metropolitan areas occupy only a small percentage of the total U.S. territory, they contain the majority of the nation's population and jobs, hence learning as much as possible about them is essential. This study classifies and describes metropolitan areas based on their propensity to specialize in goods-related or service-related employment, contributing to a better understanding of the relationships between some local factors and the probability that an area is specialized in a certain sector. An interesting conclusion of the study is that when classifying metropolitan areas, considering the type and size of the basic employment sector for each of them is helpful. Furthermore, the results suggest that the probability of an area being specialized in goods declines strongly with its crime rate. Indeed, areas specialized in goods tend to have lower crime and poverty rates and a relatively more equal income distribution.