IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/lucirc/2013_002.html

Market Thickness and the Early Labor Market Career of University Graduates- An urban advantage?

Author

Listed:
  • Ahlin, Lina

    (CIRCLE, Lund University)

  • Andersson, Martin

    (CIRCLE, Lund University)

  • Thulin, Per

    (Royal Institute of Technology and Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum)

Abstract

We analyze the influence of market thickness for skills on initial wages and subsequent wage development of university graduates. Using Swedish micro-level panel data on a cohort of graduates, we show that two out of three graduates move to large cities upon graduation. Large cities yield higher rewards to human capital and a stronger early job market career. The premium on initial wages for urban graduates is in the interval of 6-12 percent, and we estimate a wage-growth premium of about 3 percent. Thicker markets for skills appear as a key reason for the concentration of university graduates to larger cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahlin, Lina & Andersson, Martin & Thulin, Per, 2013. "Market Thickness and the Early Labor Market Career of University Graduates- An urban advantage?," Papers in Innovation Studies 2013/2, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wp.circle.lu.se/upload/CIRCLE/workingpapers/201302_Ahlin_et_al.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alessandra Faggian & Philip McCann, 2006. "Human capital flows and regional knowledge assets: a simultaneous equation approach," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(3), pages 475-500, July.
    2. J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), 2004. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4.
    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. Tom Kornstad & Terje Skjerpen & Lasse Sigbjørn Stambøl, 2024. "Empirical modeling of internal migration and commuting flows for economic regions in Norway," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 72(2), pages 473-512, February.
    2. Knutsson, Polina, 2018. "Sorting on Unobserved Skills into New Firms," Working Papers 2018:38, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    3. Chung-Shing Chan, 2023. "From the perspective of local brand equity, how do citizens perceive green, creative and smart brand potential of future Hong Kong?," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 500-513, December.
    4. Kent Eliasson & Olle Westerlund, 2023. "The urban wage premium and spatial sorting on observed and unobserved ability," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 601-627.
    5. Martin Andersson & Johan Klaesson & Johan P. Larsson, 2016. "How Local are Spatial Density Externalities? Neighbourhood Effects in Agglomeration Economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 1082-1095, June.
    6. Fredrik Carlsen & Jorn Rattso & Hildegunn E. Stokke, 2013. "Education, experience and dynamic urban wage premium," Working Paper Series 15213, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    7. Andersson, Martin & Henrekson, Magnus, 2014. "Local Competitiveness Fostered through Local Institutions for Entrepreneurship," Working Paper Series 1020, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    8. 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).
    9. Korpi, Martin & Halvarsson, Daniel, 2023. "City Size, Employer Concentration, and Wage Income Inequality," Ratio Working Papers 363, The Ratio Institute.
    10. Orsa Kekezi & Ron Boschma, 2021. "Returns to migration after job loss—The importance of job match," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(6), pages 1565-1587, September.
    11. Hooijen, Inge & Bijlsma, Ineke & Cörvers, Frank & Poulissen, Davey, 2020. "The geographical psychology of recent graduates in the Netherlands: Relating enviornmental factors and personality traits to location choice," Research Memorandum 003, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    12. repec:ers:journl:v:xxiv:y:2021:i:3b:p:338-349 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Arthur Grimes & Shaan Badenhorst & David C. Maré & Jacques Poot, 2020. "Hometown wh?nau or big city millennials? The economic geography of graduate destination choices in New Zealand," Motu Working Papers 20_04, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    14. Larsson, Johan P. & Wennberg, Karl & Wiklund, Johan & Wright, Mike, 2017. "Location choices of graduate entrepreneurs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1490-1504.
    15. Niclas Lavesson, 2017. "When And How Does Commuting To Cities Influence Rural Employment Growth?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 631-654, September.
    16. Frédéric Laurin & Annick Parent-Lamarche, 2024. "Non-metropolitan labour attractiveness: when place branding meets employer branding," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(4), pages 517-531, December.
    17. Arthur Grimes & Shaan Badenhorst & David C. Maré & Jacques Poot & Isabelle Sin, 2023. "Quality of life, quality of business, and destinations of recent graduates: fields of study matter," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(1), pages 55-80, February.
    18. Eliasson, Kent & Westerlund, Olle, 2019. "Graduate migration, self-selection and urban wage premiums across the regional hierarchy," Umeå Economic Studies 962, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    19. Kent Eliasson & Olle Westerlund, 2023. "The urban wage premium and spatial sorting on observed and unobserved ability," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 601-627.
    20. Ida Lovén & Cecilia Hammarlund & Martin Nordin, 2020. "Staying or leaving? The effects of university availability on educational choices and rural depopulation," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(5), pages 1339-1365, October.

    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. Luisa Gagliardi, 2015. "Does skilled migration foster innovative performance? Evidence from British local areas," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(4), pages 773-794, November.
    2. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Gagliardi, Luisa, 2015. "Moving people with ideas - innovation inter-regional mobility and firm heterogeneity," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64509, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. W. Mark Brown & K. Bruce Newbold & Desmond Beckstead, 2010. "Growth and Change in Human Capital across the Canadian Urban Hierarchy, 1996—2001," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(7), pages 1571-1586, June.
    4. Kaplanis, Ioannis, 2010. "Wage effects from changes in local human capital in Britain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 33615, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Lewis Dijkstra & Enrique Garcilazo & Philip McCann, 2013. "The Economic Performance of European Cities and City Regions: Myths and Realities," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 334-354, March.
    6. Olga Alonso-Villar & Coral Del RÍo, 2012. "Concentration of Economic Activity: Inequality-Based Measures," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 223-246, June.
    7. Vasco Leite & Sofia Castro & João Correia-da-Silva, 2009. "The core periphery model with asymmetric inter-regional and intra-regional trade costs," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 8(1), pages 37-44, April.
    8. Mayer, T. & Mejean, I. & Nefussi, B., 2010. "The location of domestic and foreign production affiliates by French multinational firms," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 115-128, September.
    9. Tom Broekel & Matthias Brachert & Matthias Duschl & Thomas Brenner, 2015. "Joint R and D subsidies, related variety, and regional innovation," Working Papers on Innovation and Space 2015-01, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    10. Ernest Miguelez & Rosina Moreno, 2017. "Networks, Diffusion of Knowledge, and Regional Innovative Performance," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 40(4), pages 331-336, July.
    11. Camilla Lenzi & Giovanni Perucca, 2021. "Not too close, not too far: Urbanisation and life satisfaction along the urban hierarchy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(13), pages 2742-2757, October.
    12. Tomasz Kijek & Anna Matras-Bolibok, 2020. "Knowledge-intensive Specialisation and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) in the EU Regional Scope," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 68(1), pages 181-188.
    13. Behrens, Kristian & Gaigne, Carl & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2007. "Countries, regions and trade: On the welfare impacts of economic integration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 1277-1301, July.
    14. Francis Bloch & Unal Zenginobuz, 2012. "Oates' Decentralization Theorem with Household Mobility," Working Papers hal-00657823, HAL.
    15. Carla Sá & Raymond Florax & Piet Rietveld, 2007. "Living-arrangement and university decisions of Dutch young adults," NIPE Working Papers 14/2007, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    16. Wei-Bin Zhang, 2009. "Agglomeration and Returns to Scale with Capital and Public Goods in a Multi-Regional Economy," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 81-109.
    17. Roberta Comunian & Alessandra Faggian & Sarah Jewell, 2014. "Embedding Arts and Humanities in the Creative Economy: The Role of Graduates in the UK," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 32(3), pages 426-450, June.
    18. Rolf Sternberg, 2015. "The publication and citation behaviour of economic geographers and geographical economists compared," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 35(1), pages 1-27, February.
    19. Sylvain Barde, 2007. "Stable Partial Agglomeration in a New Economic Geography Model with Urban Frictions," Sciences Po Economics Publications (main) hal-01073764, HAL.
    20. Jean-Marc Callois & Carl Gaigné, 2010. "Attitudes Towards Foreign Products and Welfare with Capital Mobility," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 751-770, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hhs:lucirc:2013_002. 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: Torben Schubert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/circlse.html .

    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.