This paper explores the dynamics of how the human capital embodied in metropolitan populations might impact metropolitan productivity. Three aspects of human capital are examined: the average aggregate level of human capital, stratification according to human capital and spatial segregation according to human capital. These are measured for the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the US for 1970, 1980 and 1990, and then tested as explanatory variables of metropolitan productivity. Econometric analysis confirms a strong relationship between higher average levels of human capital and higher productivity and growth. Stratification appears negatively correlated with productivity in 1970 and 1980, but positively correlated in 1990. Segregation appears negatively correlated with productivity in the 1970s, and in 1990 when controlling for stratification.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bea (Bureau Of Economic Analysis) (1997) Regional Economic Information System. Washington, DC: US Department of Commerce.
2.
Bénabou, R. (1993) Workings of a city: location, education, and production , The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 109, pp. 619-652.
3.
Bénabou, R. (1996) Heterogeneity, stratification, and growth: macroeconomic implications of community structure and school finance, The American Economic Review, 83, pp. 584-609.
4.
Berndt, E. and Hansson, B. (1992) Measuring the contribution of public infrastructure capital in Sweden, Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 94, pp. S151-S172.
5.
Durlauf, S. (1996) A theory of persistent income inequality, Journal of Economic Growth, 1, pp. 75-93.
6.
Galster, E. and Mincey, R. (1993) Understanding the changing fortunes of metropolitan neighborhoods: 1980-1990, Housing Policy Debate, 4, pp. 9-47.
7.
Glaeser, E., Scheinkman, J. and Shleifer, A. (1995) Economic growth in a cross-section of cities, Journal of Monetary Economics, 36, pp.117-143.
8.
Holz-Eakin, D. (1994) Public sector capital and the productivity puzzle , Review of Economics and Statistics, 76, pp. 12-21.
9.
Jargowsky, P. (1996) Take the money and run: economic segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas, American Sociological Review, 61, pp.984-998.
10.
Jovanovic, B. and Rob, R. (1989) The growth and diffusion of knowledge, Review of Economic Studies, 56, pp. 569-582.
11.
Landefeld, J. and Parker, R. (1995) Preview of the comprehensive revision of the national income and product accounts: BEA's new featured measures of output and prices , Survey of Current Business, 75, pp. 31-38.
12.
Lucas, R. (1988) On the mechanics of economic development, Journal of Monetary Economics, 22, pp. 3-42.
13.
Massey, D. (1996) The age of extremes: concentrated affluence and poverty in the twenty-first century, Demography, 33, pp. 395-412.
14.
Mincer, J. (1974) Schooling, Experience, and Earnings. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research .
15.
Mincer, J. (1995) Economic development, growth of human capital, and the dynamics of the wage structure, Journal of Economic Growth, 1, pp. 29-48.
16.
Morris, M., Bernhardt, A. and Handcock, M. (1994) Economic inequality: new methods for new trends , American Sociological Review, 59, pp.205-219.
17.
Rauch, J. (1991) Productivity gains from geographic concentration of human capital: evidence from the cities, Journal of Urban Economics, 34, pp. 1002-1037.
18.
Smole, D. (1998) Examining human capital, its distribution, and wage growth in U.S. metropolitan areas: 1970-1990. MRP thesis, Cornell University.
19.
Sveikauskas, L. (1975) The productivity of cities, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 89, pp.393-413.
20.
White, M. (1986) Segregation and diversity measures in population distribution, Population Index, 52, 198-211.
