This article examines changes in the patterns of occupational employment in urban and rural labor markets in seven southern states between 1970 and 1990. A method is developed for assessing whether occupational employment patterns are becoming more differentiated over time. The analysis...

This study employs a national survey of over 3000 U.S. manufacturing establishments to explore associations between worker skill requirements and use of production and telecommunications technologies, work organization, and other management practices. Ordered probit equations show an empirical...

This article suggests two methods for deriving a statistical verdict from a null finding, allowing economists to more confidently conclude when "not significant" can in fact be interpreted as "no substantive effect." The proposed methodology can be extended to a variety of empirical contexts...

The paper documents the degree of concentration of textile and apparel employment in rural countries, assesses the vulnerability to job loss by detailed industry in light of the expiration of import quotas, and assesses the potential for adjustment of displaced workers.

This paper examines three alternative explanations for manufacturing specialization in rural areas: 1) the greater efficiency of very large plants; 2) the "localization" advantages identified with a number of firms in the same industry locating near each other; or 3) a strategy to gain...

Decomposing the occupational structure of rural and urban labor markets allows assessing whether these structures became more alike or more dissimilar between 1970 and 1990. A shift-share method is used to compute 'predicted' and 'specialized' shares for 9 inclusive occupations. A SUR model is...