Structural estimation is a methodological approach in empirical economics explicitly based on economic theory, in which economic modeling, estimation, and empirical analysis are required to be internally consistent. This chapter illustrates the structural approach with three applications in...

This paper provides new evidence that state policies play a role in the location of industry. The paper classifies a state as pro-business or anti-business depending upon whether or not the state has a right-to-work law. The paper finds there is a discontinuous drop in manufacturing activity...

In this paper we develop a theory of how factors interact at the plant level. The theory has implications for: (1) the micro foundations for capital skill complementarity (2) the relationship between factor allocation and plant size and (3) the effects of trade and growth on the skill premium....

This paper examines how manufacturers locate sales offices across cities. Sales office costs are assumed to have four components: a fixed cost, a frictional cost for out-of-town sales, a cost-reducing knowledge spillover related to city size, and an idiosyncratic match quality for each firm-city...

We develop a theory of outsourcing in which there is market power in one factor market (labor) and no market power in a second factor market (capital). There are two intermediate goods: one labor-intensive and the other capital-intensive. We show there is always outsourcing in the market...

Unionism in the United States is contagious; it spills out of coal mines and steel mills into other establishments in the neighborhood, like hospitals and supermarkets. The geographic spillover of unionism is documented here using a newly constructed establishment level data on unionism that is...

Will an industry with no antitrust policy converge to monopoly, competition or somewhere in between? We analyze this question using a dynamic dominant firm model with rational agents, endogenous mergers and constant returns to scale production. We find that perfect competition and monopoly are...

In this paper we develop a theory of how factors interact at the plant level. The theory has implications for (1) the micro foundations for capital-skill complementarity, (2) the relationship between factor allocation and plant size, and (3) the effects of trade and growth on the skill premium....

Unionism in the United States is contagious; it spills out of coal mines and steel mills into other establishments in the neighborhood, like hospitals and supermarkets. The geographic spillover of unionism is documented here using a newly constructed establishment level data on unionism that is...

Why are methods of production used in an area when more 'efficient' methods are available? This paper explores a 'resistance to technology' explanation. In particular, the paper attempts to understand why some industries, like the construction industry, have had continued success in blocking new...