Skill-Biased Technical Change and Regional Convergence /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Giannone, Elisa, author.
Imprint:2017.
Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2017
Description:1 electronic resource (129 pages)
Language:English
Format: E-Resource Dissertations
Local Note:School code: 0330
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11715099
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:University of Chicago. degree granting institution.
ISBN:9780355078374
Notes:Advisors: Erik Hurst Committee members: Jonathan Dingel; Erik Hurst; Ralph Ossa; Nancy Stokey.
Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 78-12(E), Section: A.
English
Summary:Between 1940 and 1980 the wage gap between poorer U.S. cities and richer ones was shrinking at an annual rate of roughly 1.4%. After 1980, however, there was no further regional convergence overall. This paper quanties the contributions of skill- biased technical change (SBTC) and agglomeration economies to the end of cross-city wage convergence within the U.S. between 1980 and 2010. I develop and estimate a dynamic spatial equilibrium model that looks at the causes of regional convergence and divergence. The model choice is motivated by novel empirical regularities regarding the evolution of the skill premium and migration patterns over time and across space. The model successfully matches the quantitative features of the U.S. regional wage convergence. Moreover, the model also reproduces changes in the skill ratio across U.S. cities, as well as, migration patterns after 1980. Finally, the counterfactual analysis suggests that SBTC explains much of change in cross-city wage dierentials.