Labor Market Pooling and Occupational Agglomeration

37 Pages Posted: 14 Sep 2009 Last revised: 26 May 2010

See all articles by Todd M. Gabe

Todd M. Gabe

University of Maine - School of Economics

Jaison R. Abel

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Date Written: January 1, 2010

Abstract

This paper examines the micro-foundations of occupational agglomeration in U.S. metropolitan areas, with an emphasis on labor market pooling. Controlling for a wide range of occupational attributes, including proxies for the use of specialized machinery and for the importance of knowledge spillovers, we find that jobs characterized by a unique knowledge base exhibit higher levels of geographic concentration than do occupations with generic knowledge requirements. Further, by analyzing co-agglomeration patterns, we find that occupations with similar knowledge requirements tend to co-agglomerate. Both results provide new evidence on the importance of labor market pooling as a determinant of occupational agglomeration.

Keywords: agglomeration, labor market pooling, occupations, knowledge

JEL Classification: R12, J24, R20

Suggested Citation

Gabe, Todd M. and Abel, Jaison R., Labor Market Pooling and Occupational Agglomeration (January 1, 2010). FRB of New York Staff Report No. 392, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1473365 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1473365

Todd M. Gabe

University of Maine - School of Economics ( email )

Orono, ME 04469-5774
United States

Jaison R. Abel (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of New York ( email )

33 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10045
United States

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