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Ambition, Human Capital Acquisition and the Metropolitan Escalator

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  • Ian R. Gordon

Abstract

G ordon I. R. Ambition, human capital acquisition and the metropolitan escalator, Regional Studies . This paper examines the relation between ambition, as a form of dynamic human capital, and the escalator role of high-order metropolitan regions, as originally identified by A. J. Fielding. It argues that occupational progression in such places particularly depends on concentrations both of people with more of this asset and of jobs offering preferential access to valued elements of tacit knowledge, interacting in thick, competitive labour markets. This is partially confirmed with analyses of British Household Panel Study (BHPS) data on long-term progression showing that only the more ambitious gain from residence in the extended London region, and that they only progress faster there.

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  • Ian R. Gordon, 2015. "Ambition, Human Capital Acquisition and the Metropolitan Escalator," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(6), pages 1042-1055, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:regstd:v:49:y:2015:i:6:p:1042-1055
    DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2013.799767
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    7. Sanne Velthuis & Paul Sissons & Nigel Berkeley, 2019. "Do low-paid workers benefit from the urban escalator? Evidence from British cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(8), pages 1664-1680, June.
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    10. Ian Gordon & Tony Champion & Mike Coombes, 2015. "Urban Escalators and Interregional Elevators: The Difference that Location, Mobility, and Sectoral Specialisation Make to Occupational Progression," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 47(3), pages 588-606, March.
    11. Ahlin, Lina & Andersson, Martin & Thulin, Per, 2016. "Human Capital Sorting - the ‘when’ and ‘who’ of sorting of talents to urban regions," Papers in Innovation Studies 2016/10, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    12. Champion, Tony & Coombes, Mike & Gordon, Ian R., 2013. "How far do England’s second-order cities emulate London as human-capital ‘escalators’?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 58447, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Olivier Gergaud & Victor Ginsburgh & florine Livat, 2016. "Looking Good and Looking Smart," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2016-28, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    14. Abenoza, Roberto F. & Liu, Chengxi & Cats, Oded & Susilo, Yusak O., 2019. "What is the role of weather, built-environment and accessibility geographical characteristics in influencing travelers’ experience?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 34-50.
    15. Galster, George C. & Osland, Liv, 2024. "Educational and gender heterogeneity of the rural-urban earnings premium: New evidence from Norway," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
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    17. Virág Ilyés & István Boza & László Lőrincz & Rikard H Eriksson, 2023. "How to enter high-opportunity places? The role of social contacts for residential mobility," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(2), pages 371-395.
    18. Ana Maria Bonomi Barufi, 2016. "Should I Stay Or Should I Go? Dynamic Agglomeration Economies In Brazil," Anais do XLIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 43rd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 164, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    19. Abenoza, Roberto F. & Cats, Oded & Susilo, Yusak O., 2017. "Travel satisfaction with public transport: Determinants, user classes, regional disparities and their evolution," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 64-84.
    20. Cardoso, Rodrigo V. & Meijers, Evert J. & van Ham, Maarten & Burger, Martijn J. & de Vos, Duco, 2017. "The City as a Self-Help Book: The Psychology of Urban Promises," IZA Discussion Papers 10693, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Kristina Nyström, 2021. "Recruitment of scarce competences to rural regions: Policy perspectives," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 41(2), pages 211-227, October.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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