IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jregsc/v48y2008i5p921-940.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Job Chains And Wage Curves: Worker Mobility And Marshallian Surpluses In Evaluating Regional Employment Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph Persky
  • Daniel Felsenstein

Abstract

ABSTRACT In theory, new regional jobs yield two distinct sources of welfare gains to workers: (1) mobility gains achieved by workers as they move up job chains and (2) traditional Marshallian surpluses enjoyed by all workers as labor markets tighten. In the past, we have argued that the second channel is likely to be small relative to the first. This paper integrates a chain model (using PSID job change data) with a modified‐Marshallian model based on “wage curves” (estimated from CPS data) to formalize and test that argument. High wage jobs with modest wage–unemployment elasticities show Marshallian effects only 10 percent to 20 percent the size of mobility effects. Low wage jobs with somewhat higher elasticities show Marshallian effects from 40 percent to 70 percent the size of mobility effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Persky & Daniel Felsenstein, 2008. "Job Chains And Wage Curves: Worker Mobility And Marshallian Surpluses In Evaluating Regional Employment Growth," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 921-940, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jregsc:v:48:y:2008:i:5:p:921-940
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9787.2008.00581.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9787.2008.00581.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9787.2008.00581.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joseph Persky & Daniel Felsenstein & Virginia Carlson, 2004. "Does "Trickle Down" Work? Economic Development and Job Chains in Local Labor Markets," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number dtdw, August.
    2. Morrison, Philip S. & Papps, Kerry L. & Poot, Jacques, 2006. "Wages, employment, labour turnover and the accessibility of local labour markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 639-663, October.
    3. Michael Greenstone & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Bidding for Industrial Plants: Does Winning a 'Million Dollar Plant' Increase Welfare?," NBER Working Papers 9844, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Simonetta Longhi & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2006. "Spatial Heterogeneity And The Wage Curve Revisited," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 707-731, October.
    5. Roback, Jennifer, 1982. "Wages, Rents, and the Quality of Life," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(6), pages 1257-1278, December.
    6. Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2005. "The Last Word on the Wage Curve?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 421-450, July.
    7. Olivier Jean Blanchard & Lawrence F. Katz, 1992. "Regional Evolutions," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 23(1), pages 1-76.
    8. repec:fth:prinin:343 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. David Card, 1995. "The Wage Curve: A Review," Working Papers 722, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    10. David Card, 1995. "The Wage Curve: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 285-299, June.
    11. Timothy J. Bartik, 1991. "Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number wbsle, August.
    12. Blanchard, Olivier Jean & Diamond, Peter, 1992. "The Flow Approach to Labor Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 354-359, May.
    13. J. Paul Elhorst & Uwe Blien & Katja Wolf, 2007. "New Evidence on the Wage Curve," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 30(2), pages 173-191, April.
    14. Campbell, Carl & Orszag, J. Michael, 1998. "A model of the wage curve," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 119-125, April.
    15. Randall W. Eberts & Joe A. Stone, 1992. "Wage and Employment Adjustment in Local Labor Markets," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number wea, August.
    16. Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-444, June.
    17. Harris, John R & Todaro, Michael P, 1970. "Migration, Unemployment & Development: A Two-Sector Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 126-142, March.
    18. Topel, Robert H, 1986. "Local Labor Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 111-143, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peter W. J. Batey & Geoffrey J. D. Hewings, 2021. "Demo-economic Modeling: Review and Prospects," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 44(3-4), pages 328-362, May.
    2. Partridge, Mark & Betz, Mike, 2012. "Country Road Take Me Home: Migration Patterns in the Appalachia America and Place-Based Policy," MPRA Paper 38293, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Michael R. Betz & Mark D. Partridge, 2013. "Country Road Take Me Home," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 36(3), pages 267-295, July.
    4. Daniel Felsenstein & Joseph Persky, 2011. "Gender and Job Chains in Local Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 25(2), pages 172-181, May.
    5. Thakuriah (Vonu), Piyushimita & Persky, Joseph & Soot, Siim & Sriraj, P.S., 2013. "Costs and benefits of employment transportation for low-wage workers: An assessment of job access public transportation services," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 31-42.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Reinhold Kosfeld & Christian Dreger, 2018. "Local and spatial cointegration in the wage curve – a spatial panel analysis for german regions," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 38(1), pages 53-75, February.
    2. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2005. "The Wage Curve Reloaded," NBER Working Papers 11338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Simonetta Longhi, 2012. "Job Competition and the Wage Curve," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(5), pages 611-620, August.
    4. Ana Maria Bonomi Barufi & Eduardo A. Haddad, Peter Nijkamp, 2016. "New evidence on the wage curve: non-linearities, urban size, and spatial scale in Brazil," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2016_39, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    5. Inmaculada Garcia-Mainar & Victor Montuenga-Gomez, 2003. "The Spanish Wage Curve: 1994-1996," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 929-945.
    6. Demidova, O. & Timofeeva, E., 2021. "Spatial aspects of wage curve estimation in Russia," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 69-101.
    7. Baltagi, Badi H. & Rokicki, Bartlomiej, 2014. "The spatial Polish wage curve with gender effects: Evidence from the Polish Labor Survey," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 36-47.
    8. Ilias Livanos, 2010. "The Wage-Local Unemployment Relationship in a Highly Regulated Labour Market: Greece," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 389-400.
    9. Víctor M. Montuenga‐Gómez & José M. Ramos‐Parreño, 2005. "Reconciling the Wage Curve and the Phillips Curve," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(5), pages 735-765, December.
    10. Kosfeld, Reinhold & Dreger, Christian, 2019. "Towards an East German wage curve - NUTS boundaries, labour market regions and unemployment spillovers," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 115-124.
    11. Ana Barufi & Eduardo Haddad & Peter Nijkamp, 2016. "A comprehensive analysis of the wage curve in Brazil: Non-linearities, urban size, and the spatial dimension," ERSA conference papers ersa16p279, European Regional Science Association.
    12. Simonetta Longhi & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2006. "Spatial Heterogeneity And The Wage Curve Revisited," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 707-731, October.
    13. Edward B. Montgomery, 1993. "Pattern in Regional Labor Market Adjustment: The United States vs. Japan," NBER Working Papers 4414, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Bernard FINGLETON & Silvia PALOMBI, 2013. "The Wage Curve Reconsidered: Is It Truly An 'Empirical Law Of Economics'?," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 38, pages 49-92.
    15. Morrison, Philip S. & Papps, Kerry L. & Poot, Jacques, 2006. "Wages, employment, labour turnover and the accessibility of local labour markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 639-663, October.
    16. Koenig, Felix & Manning, Alan & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2014. "Reservation wages and the wage flexibility puzzle," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60613, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Brücker, Herbert & Hauptmann, Andreas & Jahn, Elke J. & Upward, Richard, 2014. "Migration and imperfect labor markets: Theory and cross-country evidence from Denmark, Germany and the UK," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 205-225.
    18. Marisa Carla Bucheli Anaya & Cecilia González Rodríguez-Villamil, 2012. "An estimation of the wage curve for Uruguay," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, June.
    19. Hynninen, Sanna-Mari, 2009. "Is there a wage curve for the highly educated?," ISER Working Paper Series 2009-17, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    20. García-Mainar , Inmaculada & Montuenga-Gómez , Víctor M., 2012. "Wage dynamics in Spain: evidence from individual data (1994-2001)," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 24, pages 41-58.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jregsc:v:48:y:2008:i:5:p:921-940. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-4146 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.