IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jregsc/v61y2021i3p623-648.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The network of US airports and its effects on employment

Author

Listed:
  • Nicholas Sheard

Abstract

This paper estimates the effects of airport infrastructure on employment and the distribution of the labor force in US metropolitan areas. The analysis is based on models for the air network and for its effects on employment, which are estimated using US data. Air traffic is found to have a positive effect on the population of the local area, with an elasticity of 0.010, so airport improvements induce a reallocation of workers between regions. Air traffic is also found to have a positive effect on employment in the local area with an elasticity of 0.036 and a weakly positive effect on the employment rate in other places within 400 miles. Simulations suggest that for each job created in the local area by an airport expansion, two and a half jobs are created elsewhere in the United States due to the changes in the air network and the distribution of employment. Expanding the average airport adds one job in the United States for roughly each $78,000 invested. The results further suggest that the US air network is less centralized than would be optimal.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas Sheard, 2021. "The network of US airports and its effects on employment," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 623-648, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jregsc:v:61:y:2021:i:3:p:623-648
    DOI: 10.1111/jors.12526
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.12526
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jors.12526?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sheard, Nicholas, 2014. "Airports and urban sectoral employment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 133-152.
    2. Dave Donaldson, 2018. "Railroads of the Raj: Estimating the Impact of Transportation Infrastructure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(4-5), pages 899-934, April.
    3. Stephen Gibbons & Wenjie Wu, 2020. "Airports, access and local economic performance: evidence from China [Are Chinese cities too small?]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 903-937.
    4. Dave Donaldson & Richard Hornbeck, 2016. "Railroads and American Economic Growth: A "Market Access" Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(2), pages 799-858.
    5. Guy Michaels, 2008. "The Effect of Trade on the Demand for Skill: Evidence from the Interstate Highway System," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 683-701, November.
    6. Gilles Duranton & Peter M. Morrow & Matthew A. Turner, 2014. "Roads and Trade: Evidence from the US," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 681-724.
    7. Gonzalez-Navarro, Marco & Turner, Matthew A., 2018. "Subways and urban growth: Evidence from earth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 85-106.
    8. Jan K. Brueckner, 2003. "Airline Traffic and Urban Economic Development," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(8), pages 1455-1469, July.
    9. Nathaniel Baum-Snow & Loren Brandt & J. Vernon Henderson & Matthew A. Turner & Qinghua Zhang, 2017. "Roads, Railroads, and Decentralization of Chinese Cities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(3), pages 435-448, July.
    10. Blonigen, Bruce A. & Cristea, Anca D., 2015. "Air service and urban growth: Evidence from a quasi-natural policy experiment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 128-146.
    11. Treb Allen & Costas Arkolakis, 2022. "The Welfare Effects of Transportation Infrastructure Improvements [General Equilibrium Effects in Space: Theory and Measurement]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(6), pages 2911-2957.
    12. Nathaniel Baum-Snow, 2007. "Did Highways Cause Suburbanization?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 775-805.
    13. Duranton, Gilles, 2015. "Roads and trade in Colombia," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 16-36.
    14. Filipe Campante & David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2018. "Long-Range Growth: Economic Development in the Global Network of Air Links," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 133(3), pages 1395-1458.
    15. Gilles Duranton & Matthew A. Turner, 2012. "Urban Growth and Transportation," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 79(4), pages 1407-1440.
    16. Glaeser, Edward L. & Ponzetto, Giacomo A.M., 2018. "The political economy of transportation investment," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 4-26.
    17. 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, November.
    18. Nicholas Sheard, 2019. "Airport Size and Urban Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(342), pages 300-335, April.
    19. Paulos Ashebir Lakew & Volodymyr Bilotkach, 2018. "Airport delays and metropolitan employment," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 424-450, March.
    20. Jan Brueckner & Darin Lee & Ethan Singer, 2014. "City-Pairs Versus Airport-Pairs: A Market-Definition Methodology for the Airline Industry," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 44(1), pages 1-25, February.
    21. Marquise J. McGraw, 2017. "The Heterogeneous Impact of Airports on Population and Employment Growth in Cities☆," Advances in Airline Economics, in: The Economics of Airport Operations, volume 6, pages 261-312, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    22. Bogart, Dan & Chaudhary, Latika, 2013. "Engines of Growth: The Productivity Advance of Indian Railways, 1874–1912," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(2), pages 339-370, 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. Pot, Felix Johan & Koster, Sierdjan, 2022. "Small airports: Runways to regional economic growth?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    2. Tu Anh Trinh & Ducksu Seo & Unchong Kim & Thi Nhu Quynh Phan & Thi Hai Hang Nguyen, 2022. "Air Transport Centrality as a Driver of Sustainable Regional Growth: A Case of Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, August.

    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. Nicholas Sheard, 2019. "Airport Size and Urban Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(342), pages 300-335, April.
    2. Florian Mayneris, 2017. "Effets des infrastructures de transport sur le niveau et la localisation des activités économiques," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2017023, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    3. Nicholas Sheard, 2015. "Airport Improvements and Urban Growth," Working Papers halshs-01117913, HAL.
    4. Gáfaro, Margarita & Pellegrina, Heitor S., 2022. "Trade, farmers’ heterogeneity, and agricultural productivity: Evidence from Colombia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    5. Dong, Xiaofang, 2018. "High-speed railway and urban sectoral employment in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 603-621.
    6. Talebian, Ahmadreza & Zou, Bo & Hansen, Mark, 2018. "Assessing the impacts of state-supported rail services on local population and employment: A California case study," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 108-121.
    7. Stephen Gibbons & Wenjie Wu, 2020. "Airports, access and local economic performance: evidence from China [Are Chinese cities too small?]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 903-937.
    8. Carbo, Jose M. & Graham, Daniel J., 2020. "Quantifying the impacts of air transportation on economic productivity: a quasi-experimental causal analysis," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    9. Stephan Heblich & Stephen J Redding & Daniel M Sturm, 2020. "The Making of the Modern Metropolis: Evidence from London," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(4), pages 2059-2133.
    10. Tveter, Eivind, 2017. "The effect of airports on regional development: Evidence from the construction of regional airports in Norway," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 50-58.
    11. Stephen Gibbons & Wenjie Wu, 2017. "Airports, Market Access and Local Economic Performance: Evidence from China," SERC Discussion Papers 0211, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    12. He, Guojun & Xie, Yang & Zhang, Bing, 2020. "Expressways, GDP, and the environment: The case of China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    13. Nicholas Sheard, 2015. "Airport Improvements and Urban Growth," AMSE Working Papers 1509, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    14. Stef Proost & Jacques-François Thisse, 2019. "What Can Be Learned from Spatial Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 575-643, September.
    15. Sobieralski, Joseph B., 2021. "Transportation infrastructure and employment: Are all investments created equal?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    16. Egger, Peter H. & Loumeau, Gabriel & Loumeau, Nicole, 2023. "China's dazzling transport-infrastructure growth: Measurement and effects," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    17. Bird, Julia & Straub, Stéphane, 2020. "The Brasília experiment: The heterogeneous impact of road access on spatial development in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    18. Lenaerts, Bert & Allroggen, Florian & Malina, Robert, 2021. "The economic impact of aviation: A review on the role of market access," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    19. Stephen J. Redding, 2020. "Trade and Geography," NBER Working Papers 27821, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Xu, Yang & Yang, Xi, 2021. "Access to ports and the welfare gains from domestic transportation infrastructure," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning

    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:61:y:2021:i:3:p:623-648. 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.