IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/v53y2021i14p1598-1612.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Recalculating ... : How Uncertainty in Local Labour Market Definitions Affects Empirical Findings

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Foote
  • Mark J. Kutzbach
  • Lars Vilhuber

Abstract

This paper evaluates the use of commuting zones as a local labour market definition. We revisit the seminal paper by Tolbert and Sizer and demonstrate the sensitivity of definitions to two features of the methodology: a cluster dissimilarity cut-off, or the count of clusters, and uncertainty in the input data. We show how these features impact empirical estimates using a standard application of commuting zones and an example from related literature. We conclude with advice to researchers on how to demonstrate the robustness of empirical findings to uncertainty in the definition of commuting zones.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Foote & Mark J. Kutzbach & Lars Vilhuber, 2021. "Recalculating ... : How Uncertainty in Local Labour Market Definitions Affects Empirical Findings," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(14), pages 1598-1612, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:53:y:2021:i:14:p:1598-1612
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2020.1841083
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00036846.2020.1841083
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036846.2020.1841083?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tolbert, Charles M. & Sizer, Molly, 1996. "U.S. Commuting Zones and Labor Market Areas: A 1990 Update," Staff Reports 278812, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Raj Chetty & Nathaniel Hendren & Patrick Kline & Emmanuel Saez, 2014. "Where is the land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1553-1623.
    3. Card, David, 2001. "Immigrant Inflows, Native Outflows, and the Local Labor Market Impacts of Higher Immigration," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 22-64, January.
    4. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson, 2013. "The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2121-2168, October.
    5. Michael Amior & Alan Manning, 2018. "The Persistence of Local Joblessness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(7), pages 1942-1970, July.
    6. Tolbert, Charles M., II & Killian, Molly Sizer, 1987. "Labor Market Areas for the United States," Staff Reports 277959, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Andrew Foote & Michel Grosz & Ann Stevens, 2019. "Locate Your Nearest Exit: Mass Layoffs and Local Labor Market Response," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(1), pages 101-126, January.
    8. Abigail Wozniak, 2010. "Are College Graduates More Responsive to Distant Labor Market Opportunities?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(4), pages 944-970.
    9. Yagan, Danny, 2016. "The Enduring Employment Impact of Your Great Recession Location," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt12d0w9bs, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    10. Bound, John & Holzer, Harry J, 2000. "Demand Shifts, Population Adjustments, and Labor Market Outcomes during the 1980s," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(1), pages 20-54, January.
    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. Veronica Minaya & Brendan Moore & Judith Scott-Clayton, 2020. "The Effect of Job Displacement on College Enrollment: Evidence from Ohio," NBER Working Papers 27694, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Zabek, Mike, 2018. "Local Ties in Spatial Equilibrium," SocArXiv rpq5z, Center for Open Science.
    3. Brad Hershbein & Bryan Stuart, 2022. "The Evolution of Local Labor Markets After Recessions," Working Papers 22-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    4. Ben Lipsius, 2018. "Labor Market Concentration does not Explain the Falling Labor Share," 2018 Papers pli1202, Job Market Papers.
    5. Jordy Meekes & Wolter H. J. Hassink, 2023. "Endogenous local labour markets, regional aggregation and agglomeration economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 13-25, January.
    6. Christopher S Fowler & Leif Jensen, 2020. "Bridging the gap between geographic concept and the data we have: The case of labor markets in the USA," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(7), pages 1395-1414, October.
    7. Jessica H. Brown, 2018. "Does Public Pre-K Have Unintended Consequences on the Child Care Market for Infants and Toddlers?," Working Papers 626, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    8. Andrea Batch & Benjamin R. Bridgman & Abe C. Dunn & Mahsa Gholizadeh, 2023. "Consumption Zones," BEA Papers 0114, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    9. ADACHI Daisuke & FUKAI Taiyo & KAWAGUCHI Daiji & SAITO Yukiko, 2020. "Commuting Zones in Japan," Discussion papers 20021, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    10. repec:bea:wpaper:0208 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. James Bishop & Emma Greenland, 2021. "Is the Phillips Curve Still a Curve? Evidence from the Regions," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2021-09, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    12. Brad J. Hershbein & Bryan A. Stuart, 2020. "Recessions and Local Labor Market Hysteresis," Upjohn Working Papers 20-325, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    13. Zhang, Whitney, 2022. "Improving commuting zones using the Louvain community detection algorithm," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).

    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. Ning Jia & Raven Molloy & Christopher Smith & Abigail Wozniak, 2023. "The Economics of Internal Migration: Advances and Policy Questions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 144-180, March.
    2. Scherpf, Erik & Weber, Bruce & Grobe, Deana & Edwards, Mark, 2018. "Participation in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): Effect of Local Labor Market Conditions in Oregon," Economic Research Report 277565, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Michael Amior & Alan Manning, 2018. "The Persistence of Local Joblessness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(7), pages 1942-1970, July.
    4. Karim Bekhtiar, 2022. "Robotization, Internal Migration and Rural Depopulation in Austria," Economics working papers 2022-07, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    5. Amior, Michael, 2018. "The contribution of foreign migration to local labor market adjustment," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 91705, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Bryan A. Stuart, 2022. "The Long-Run Effects of Recessions on Education and Income," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 42-74, January.
    7. Christian Dustmann & Uta Schönberg & Jan Stuhler, 2016. "The Impact of Immigration: Why Do Studies Reach Such Different Results?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 31-56, Fall.
    8. Stuhler, Jan & Jaeger, David & Ruist, Joakim, 2018. "Shift-Share Instruments and the Impact of Immigration," CEPR Discussion Papers 12701, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Moretti, Enrico & Hornbeck, Richard, 2018. "Who Benefits From Productivity Growth? Direct and Indirect Effects of Local TFP Growth on Wages, Rents, and Inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 12953, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Bond, Timothy N. & Giuntella, Osea & Lonsky, Jakub, 2023. "Immigration and work schedules: Theory and evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    11. ADACHI Daisuke & FUKAI Taiyo & KAWAGUCHI Daiji & SAITO Yukiko, 2020. "Commuting Zones in Japan," Discussion papers 20021, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    12. Brad Hershbein & Bryan Stuart, 2022. "The Evolution of Local Labor Markets After Recessions," Working Papers 22-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    13. Karim Bekhtiar, 2023. "The decline of manufacturing employment and the rise of the far-right in Austria," Economics working papers 2023-09, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    14. Leopoldo Fergusson & Tatiana Hiller & Ana Maria Ibañez, 2020. "Growth and inclusion trajectories of Colombian functional territories," Sobre México. Revista de Economía, Sobre México. Temas en economía, vol. 1(1), pages 79-125.
    15. Andrew Foote & Michel Grosz, 2020. "The Effect of Local Labor Market Downturns on Postsecondary Enrollment and Program Choice," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 593-622, Fall.
    16. Ferdinando Monte & Stephen J. Redding & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2018. "Commuting, Migration, and Local Employment Elasticities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3855-3890, December.
    17. Danny Yagan, 2019. "Employment Hysteresis from the Great Recession," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(5), pages 2505-2558.
    18. David H. Autor & David Dorn & Gordon H. Hanson & Jae Song, 2014. "Trade Adjustment: Worker-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(4), pages 1799-1860.
    19. Monras, Joan, 2015. "Economic Shocks and Internal Migration," IZA Discussion Papers 8840, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Brian C. Cadena & Brian K. Kovak, 2016. "Immigrants Equilibrate Local Labor Markets: Evidence from the Great Recession," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 257-290, January.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques

    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:taf:applec:v:53:y:2021:i:14:p:1598-1612. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    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.