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Much of the literature on sub-national income convergence relates to states and regions. This paper focuses upon metropolitan areas as the germane geographical units for studying income convergence. Evidence of metropolitan wage divergence, the opposite of convergence, is presented. A theoretical basis for wage divergence is found in endogenous growth models and in two-sector trade models. Cross-section regression equations are estimated in which the level and the growth of metropolitan wages are related to variables that the empirical evidence and the theory suggest may be important sources of wage divergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the expansion of knowledge-intensive industries in the US, along with intensifying focus on workforce development policy as an economic development strategy, occupations are increasingly being used as basic units of analysis in applied studies of urban and regional economies. An heretofore underappreciated component of occupation-based regional analysis is the need to understand relationships, similarities and dissimilarities among occupations themselves, so that they may be aggregated or grouped in theoretically and empirically meaningful ways. This paper lays out a conceptual framework and empirical approach to identifying knowledge-based occupation clusters, or groups of occupations that share the same broad knowledge characteristics. Following an application of the clusters to a comparison of labour pools in a selected 38 metropolitan economies, the paper discusses the clusters' general value for regional economic analysis, especially their utility as an intermediate step in applied industry cluster analyses where necessary regional occupation data are limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates historical changes in economic structure and the spatial distribution of jobs and commuting patterns during a period of consolidating suburban decentralisation in US cities. The analysis of selected US metropolitan areas is based on data drawn from the 1980 and 1990 PUMS (public use microdata samples). First, the paper compares changes in employment composition between regions and between two geographical sub-divisions in each of the metropolitan areas: the suburb and the central city. A diversity index is then measured for suburbs and central cities and an intertemporal comparison is made. Finally, changes in travel characteristics are discussed and analysed by industrial sector and geographical sub-division. The analysis shows a strong growth of suburban cities compared with central cities in each region, increased urbanisation economies in suburban cities and the dominance of suburb-to-suburb commuting. The historical pattern gives urban analysts and planners in Europe and elsewhere much to think about: in particular, the self-reinforcing nature of suburban agglomeration economies, the influence of growing suburban employment centres on commute patterns, the growth of centre-to-suburb commutes and the dominance of suburb-to-suburb commutes; and the ability of cities to reshape themselves as individual firms and households adopt strategies that lower the costs of transacting labour, services and all manner of commodities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite earlier attempts to evaluate the consequences of urban containment policy adoption, the transport implications of these policies have been overlooked. This paper examines the impact that containment policies have on population density and vehicle miles travelled per capita. An empirical analysis is conducted, relying on a fixed-effects model for panel data for the largest 25 metropolitan areas in the US during the 1982–94 time-period. Because the outcomes are endogenously related, instrumental variable regression is used to test hypotheses about the effect of the presence and age of containment policies on travel. The findings suggest that local containment policies and state-level involvement in enabling or mandating growth management are associated with higher population density and more miles travelled. The results uncover unanticipated relationships of containment policies and travel outcomes, and underscore the importance of a co-ordinated strategy to mitigate some of the potential travel consequences of containment policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex systems, such as urban systems, emerge unpredictably without the influence of central control as a result of adaptive behaviour by their component, interacting agents. This paper analyses city size distributions, by decade, from the south-western region of the United States for the years 1890–1990. It determines if the distributions were clustered and documents changes in the pattern of clusters over time. Clusters were determined utilising a kernel density estimator and cluster analysis. The data were clustered as determined by both methods. The analyses identified 4–7 clusters of cities in each of the decades analysed. Cities cluster into size classes, suggesting variability in growth rates at different scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Day labour and other forms of temporary, casualised and precarious employment lie at the centre of an emergent employment regime that is rewriting labour market rules in major US cities. Flexibilisation of work, processes of regional industrial restructuring and uneven development at the urban scale interact to create the conditions for the spread of low-wage contingent employment. The spread of contingent work has pursued a path of least resistance, destabilising and undermining the already difficult conditions in low-wage labour markets. This has contributed to the reproduction and reinforcement of patterns of labour market segmentation, racial polarisation and social exclusion within urban labour markets. This paper examines the restructuring of urban employment regimes through the lens of low-wage, temporary employment and its attendant social division of labour at the urban scale. The aim is two-fold: first, to examine the ways in which a 'regime of precarious employment' has been embedded within a regional growth model; and, secondly, to describe emerging forms of labour market regulation that are associated with this employment regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are complex, self-organising, evolving systems and the emergent patterns they manifest provide insight into the dynamic processes in urban systems. This article analyses city size distributions, by decade, from the south-eastern region of the US for the years 1860-1990. It determines if the distributions are clustered into size classes and documents changes in the pattern of size classes over time. A statistical hypothesis test was also performed to detect dependence between city size and growth using discrete probability calculations under the assumption of Gibrat's law. The city size distributions for the south-eastern region of the US were discontinuous, with cities clustering into distinct size classes. The analysis also identified departures from Gibrat's law, indicating variable growth rates at different scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on a study which examined the competitiveness of urban economies of the major metropolitan areas in the United States (US). Ranking of the 24 major US metropolitan areas according to competitiveness; Equation used to generate the ranking of competitiveness; Analysis of other data.

Since Porter introduced his diamond model of industry clusters, clusters have become a mantra in economic development literature for many academics and professionals alike. There is, however, little consensus on how to define and identify industry clusters. Firms may co-locate looking for high quality suppliers, a large pool of skilled workers or local knowledge stock. Therefore, characteristics of industry clusters may differ according to the type of ‘glue’ that creates formal and informal ties and binds firms together. Most previous cluster studies investigated the first two factors, but knowledge still remains unexplored. This study presents an exploratory analysis of US industry clusters from the perspective of knowledge and its flows using a common data reduction technique and patent data. The study also examines geographical patterns of knowledge-based clusters in the US in terms of employment and patents. The analysis shows that the distributions of employment and patents are significantly associated. However, the degree of association varies cluster by cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bid-rent theory suggests that the dependent variable of a population density function is unobserved (or population equals zero) if land values are relatively low in residential use. If the errors of density and bid-rent function errors are correlated, bid-rent theory implies that OLS population density estimates are subject to selection bias. Combined land use and density estimates for suburban Chicago confirm these predictions. The results provide further evidence that Chicago cannot be modelled adequately as other than a polycentric city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]