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A Method to Construct Geographical Crosswalks with an Application to US Counties since 1790

Author

Listed:
  • Fabian Eckert
  • Andrés Gvirtz
  • Jack Liang
  • Michael Peters

Abstract

Empirical researchers often have to map data provided for a "reporting" spatial unit, say counties in 1900, to a "reference" one, say, counties in 2010. We discuss a general method to create such crosswalks: computing the share of the area of each reporting unit nested in a given reference unit. Using these shares, data can be re-aggregated from the reporting to the reference units. We apply the method to construct a crosswalk for US county-level data since 1790 to present-day counties or commuting zones. We also provide the code to generate other crosswalks given maps of reporting and reference units.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabian Eckert & Andrés Gvirtz & Jack Liang & Michael Peters, 2020. "A Method to Construct Geographical Crosswalks with an Application to US Counties since 1790," NBER Working Papers 26770, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26770
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    19. Sezer, Ayse Hazal, 2023. "Convicts and Comrades : Coerced Labor’s Impact on Early Labor Unions," Other publications TiSEM 98f91e6a-8e47-4c1f-bc84-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    20. Lan Dinh, 2022. "Has toughness of local competition declined?," Working Papers 22-13, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A1 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics
    • N11 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913

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