I study whether human capital investments are based on local rather than national demand, and whether this is explained by migration or information frictions. I analyze three sector-specific shocks with differential local effects, including the dot-com crash, the 2008 financial crisis, and a...

We build a dynamic model of migration where, in addition to classical mobility costs, workers face informational frictions that decrease their ability to compete for distant job opportunities. We structurally estimate the model on a matched employer-employee panel dataset describing labor market...

This paper provides estimates that lead to better U.S. labor market definitions. Current U.S. labor market definitions-for example, metropolitan areas and commuting zones-are unsatisfactory because they are ad hoc and usually do not correspond to commonly used local planning areas. This paper...

This paper studies the effects of each U.S. recession since 1973 on local labor markets. We find that recession-induced declines in employment are permanent, suggesting that local areas experience permanent declines in labor demand relative to less-affected areas. Population also falls,...

In most industrialized countries, employment has grown predominately in jobs at the upper and lower tails of the wage distribution, while employment in the middle part of the distribution has stagnated or declined. This process of job polarization is well documented for a number of countries. We...

This paper examines the micro-foundations of occupational agglomeration in U.S. metropolitan areas, with an emphasis on labor market pooling. Controlling for a wide range of occupational attributes, including proxies for the use of specialized machinery and for the importance of knowledge...

In this paper, we analyse the implications of labour market integration in a two-region model with local human capital externalities and congestion effects. We show that integration can be a double-edged sword. Integration and the ensuing agglomeration of skilled labour can reduce "real" income...

Substantial attention has been given to the stylized fact that workforce education level tends to increase with city size. This paper demonstrates that the positive relation between city size and skill intensity is a spurious result due to the omission of housing cost, which increases with city...

This paper examines the micro-foundations of occupational agglomeration in U.S. metropolitan areas, with an emphasis on labor market pooling. Controlling for a wide range of occupational attributes, including proxies for the use of specialized machinery and for the importance of knowledge...

I study whether human capital investments are based on local rather than national demand, and whether this is explained by migration or information frictions. I analyze three sector-specific shocks with differential local effects, including the dot-com crash, the 2008 financial crisis, and a...