The Future of State and Local Economic Development Policy: What Research Is Needed

Research will be more relevant to state and local economic development policy if this research focuses on research gaps. One gap is better estimates of how local labor demand policies affect local jobs. A second gap is better understanding of how labor supply policies affect overall local labor market outcomes, adjusting for spillovers and displacement. A third gap is better understanding of how effects of local employment shocks vary with local labor market conditions.     

Local Embeddedness,Market Focus,and Productivity: Evidence of Taiwanese Manufacturing MNE Subsidiaries in China

There has been considerable literature discussing the characteristics and importance of location‐specific factors in the context of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), but very little literature linking location‐specific factors to productivity. This study explores, for each location‐specific factor, the relationship between the degree of local embeddedness and the labor productivity. We contribute to the body of literature on location‐specific factors by arguing that market focuses play a pivotal role in determining the impact of local embeddedness on productivity. Based on their strategic choices, we categorize Taiwanese manufacturing multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries in China into two groups: the local‐market‐focus group and the export‐market‐focus group. The paper fits the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models to the export‐market‐focus group and the local‐market‐focus group separately. For these two groups, each local‐embeddedness variable exerts different effect on labor productivity. Results also suggest that local‐market‐focus FDI is more affected by the host country's local business environment than is export‐market‐focus FDI. Although this study cannot represent all foreign companies in China, its dynamism offers a rich context in which to explore a deeper understanding of foreign companies' business activities in China.     

Labor Market Segmentation in Urumqi,Xinjiang: Exposing Labor Market Segments and Testing the Relationship between Migration and Segmentation

Labor market segmentation and migration are two phenomena that are dramatically reshaping the spatial, economic, and social relationships of many urban cities in both developed and developing countries. To this point, the bulk of Chinese literature falls within the context of area studies, without much effort to link Chinese migration and emerging labor market outcomes to larger global trends and discourse. This research attempts to link the body of internal Chinese migration and emerging labor markets to labor market segmentation theory, primarily developed by urban economists and sociologists. My findings provide evidence that applying labor market segmentation theory to examine emerging markets in China offers fruitful results that help to identify the new urban stratification that exists in China. I employ a set of quantitative methods using employee‐level field data that I collected in Urumqi in 2008 to identify distinct segments within Urumqi's labor market and argue that migration is a major driver of labor market segmentation. Cluster analysis shows Uyghur minorities and women are found to be overwhelmingly concentrated in the lower sector, composed mostly of “bad” jobs. Discriminant analysis reveals that migrant status and ethnicity are the most important variables that deepen the gap among the labor market segments. The social inequality created as a result of market segmentation can partially explain Uyghur discontent in the region and the July 2009 riots, one of the worst riots in Xinjiang's modern history.     

How Effects of Local Labor Demand Shocks Vary with the Initial Local Unemployment Rate

This article estimates how effects of local labor demand shocks on labor market outcomes vary with the initial local unemployment rate, which has not been previously studied. The data are on 23 large U.S. metro areas from 1979 to 2011. The article finds that demand shocks to local job growth have greater effects in increasing real wages if the local economy initially has low unemployment. However, demand shocks have greater effects in reducing unemployment, and increasing labor force participation, if the local economy initially has high unemployment, although these differences are only of modest statistical significance. The estimates are based on a new econometric approach to determining the correct dynamic structure for how local labor markets respond to demand shocks. This new approach finds that demand shocks have persistent effects on labor force participation and real wages, but not on unemployment, which contradicts some previous research.     

Unemployment Duration in Non‐Metropolitan Labor Markets

Non‐metropolitan areas of the U.S have experienced significant structural economic changes in recent decades. These changes have raised concerns that some non‐metropolitan workers may face significant costs to employment displacements associated with economic adjustments. This paper explores the roles that linkages to metropolitan labor markets, area labor market conditions, and individual attributes play in determining the rates of exit from unemployment to employment among non‐metropolitan area residents. Adjacency to a metropolitan area is found to significantly increase transition rates from unemployment to employment among displaced non‐metropolitan workers, but local economic conditions are found to have relatively weak or insignificant effects on transition rates. Also, lack of post‐high school education and minority status both significantly reduce rates of exit from unemployment in non‐metropolitan areas following employmentdisplacement.     

Alternative Labor Market Closures in a Regional Model

Five versions of a regional economic forecasting and simulation model are implemented to evaluate the forecasting accuracy and significance for impact analysis of alternative regional labor market closures. The five versions correspond to the following specifications: downward-sloped labor demand and upward-sloped labor supply, vertical labor demand and upward-sloped labor supply, an input-output version, and two general equilibrium configurations of labor demand and supply. It is found that the estimated impacts of an exogenous employment stimulus differ greatly across the model versions. Also, post-sample forecasts for 1981-1988 are run for the fifty states plus Washington D.C. with each model version to test their relative forecast accuracy. The forecast comparison shows that the general equilibrium version that specifies inelastic supply is inferior to the other versions for short-term forecasts of wage rates and long-term employment forecasts. For both short- and long-run population forecasts, the versions with completely immobile labor are more accurate than those with completely mobile labor. However, versions that specify an upward-sloped labor supply (partial labor supply adjustment) are the most accurate.     

Disparities and Divided Growth: Ethnic Entrepreneurship in the Greater Los Angeles Area, 1980–2015

This study employs a multilevel research design to examine business ownership across ethnic groups in the greater Los Angeles area. It finds significant divide between white and non‐white businesses along the labor market hierarchy. The entrepreneurial environment, ethnic residential communities, ethnic business spatial clustering, ethnic concentration in particular niche sectors, and ethnic diversity in local areas are all related to business ownership and disparities across ethnic groups. The results suggest that ethnically diverse neighborhoods and co‐ethnic business communities could provide a conducive institutional environment and resources for minority businesses to start. However, in contrast to white owned businesses, ethnic minority businesses' concentration in the low‐end and easy‐entry sectors may reinforce their disadvantages and hinder upward economic mobility. This study provides policy implications for community regional development through entrepreneurship especially when race and ethnicity are concerned.     

Labor Shock and the Diversity of Transnational Corporate Strategy in Export Processing Zones

ABSTRACT This article examines diverse transnational corporations’(TNC) strategies in response to labor shock and specific conditions that enhance TNCs’local embedding in export processing zones (EPZs). The goal of this paper is to understand the rationale behind TNCs’choice between spatial differentiation (mobility) and spatial fmity (immobility). Based on field research and data analysis from the Masan Free Export Zone (MAFEZ) in South Korea, it is argued that TNCs do not always withdraw from EPZs in reaction to wage costs and growing labor militancy. Higher labor costs can be overridden by other advantages: existing physicalkocial inhstructure, tax benefits, fured assets, localized labor skills and technology, cultural proximity, and advantages from geographical proximity to market, raw materials, and TNCs’headquarters. This paper criticizes the overly simplistic view of capital mobility. However, TNCs that choose to remain in the EPZs use both upgrading and cheapening strategies, and their remaining does not necessarily result in upgrading labor skills or improving labor conditions. This article raises a critical question of the firm-centered view of the global enterprise literature and the local embeddedness literature of TNCs on workers’welfare. It emphasizes the important role of firms and of unions in training workers for purposes of technology and skill upgrading.     

The Reformation of the Construction Employment System and Building a Harmonious Society

Construction industry is not only the pillar industry in national economy,but also the typical industry with intensive labors.As a major part of the construction industry,the Construction Employment System(CES) is an important factor of the market order,as well as the quality,the safety and the development of the industry.It is also an important part for building a harmonious society.It concerns the social harmony,political harmony,societal harmony,cultural harmony,urban-rural harmony,etc.However,at present,there are still many problems in CES that might influence the harmonious society building.This paper advises to speed up the reformation of CES,to establish and consummate the system of construction labor subcontract,to develop vigorously labor subcontract corporations,to improve the quality of the labors,to ensure the rights and interests of the labor.     

Heterogeneity in the local employment multipliers in the United States

Recent studies have found evidence of a local employment multiplier’s effect. For the most part, these studies provide an average estimate for all labor markets. In this paper, we examine how the average local employment multiplier, the effect of an exogenous increase in employment in the tradable sector on total employment, depends on the characteristics of the local labor market. Specifically, we estimate the average multipliers for coastal, noncoastal, large, and small metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) across different time periods using the data of 333 US MSAs. Overall, we find a reduced form of local employment multiplier ranging from 1.38 to 2.24, which is within the range of typically estimated local employment multipliers. In addition, the characteristics of the local labor market matter. The local multipliers appear larger in noncoastal and large MSAs. For small and coastal metros, the multiplier is closer to 1.5 than to 2.0 while in the case of large and noncoastal metros, it is closer to 2.0 than to 1.5. The local multipliers are also sensitive to the time period considered.     

Predicting Displaced Worker Industry Switching: Targeting Training Programs

The high cost of providing formal training to displaced workers, combined with the lack of consistent evidence to support training program effectiveness, has prompted researchers and policy makers to suggest that formal training be offered only to select groups of displaced workers. This paper reviews theoretical and empirical outcomes suggesting that displaced workers who are likely to switch industries as a result of displacement are one group toward which formal training could be targeted. Given this motivation, the paper goes on to examine the empirical framework for such targeting. Estimates presented indicate that workers displaced from industries that employ only a small fraction of their local labor force are more likely to switch industries after displacement. In addition, the relative importance of workers' pre-displacement industries in their local labor markets is a stronger predictor of industry switching than other commonly used measures of local labor market conditions.     

The Impact of an Identical Demand Shock on Two Cities

It is generally agreed that in a larger, more diversified, economy, leakages are weaker, and multipliers, greater. But how great are the differences? And how significant are the effects of diversity, relative to other factors? These questions are examined using two applied general equilibrium models, one for the Quebec metropolitan area, and the other for the Montreal area. Both models, identical in format, were calibrated from regional social accounting matrices based on the same methods and data sources. By simulating the economic impact of identical exogenous shocks on each of the two economies, it was possible to quantify the differences in the values of the multipliers: they are quite variable, ranging from 8 percent to 33 percent when induced consumption effects are taken into account, and from 2 percent to 27 percent otherwise. In general, differences are smaller for demand shocks that include a substantial fraction of direct labor and other factor income. Controlled simulation experiments show that neither the share of income paid to resident households, nor the households’ propensities to consume seem to play a critical role. So it appears likely that the key factor is indeed size and the diversity of productive capacities, as it is reflected in local suppliers’ market shares.     

Local Labor Market Adjustment to Immigration: The Roles of Participation and the Short Run

ABSTRACT While previous research has generally found that immigration raises unemployment for natives, effects are often more muted than expected. Anticipated out‐migration responses have been similarly difficult to discern. However, these findings may be byproducts of the long‐run nature of most inquiries, which furthermore do not account for changes in natives’ labor force participation. In response, this study evaluates the impact of the arrival of low‐skilled immigrants on low‐skilled natives in urban areas over a five year period. Initial static results from the Census Basic Monthly Survey clearly indicate that immigrants have a significant negative impact on natives’ labor force participation. Building upon these static panel results, characteristics of immigrants’ destination choices are examined along with the ensuing adjustment process through dynamic analyses of local markets. Surges of immigrants significantly reduce the labor force participation of low‐skilled natives, emphasizing this often neglected channel for labor market adjustment. Previous work may thus understate the true impact of immigrants on local labor markets by focusing on the longer term and ignoring adjustments through participation.     

生态脆弱区耕地集约利用变化的能值分析

为了进一步分析生态脆弱区农地集约利用变化对区域农业经济和生态环境的影响,利用综合研究方法定量表征农业投入、产出、产投比的研究显得十分必要。以处于典型农牧交错区的宁夏盐池县为案例区,利用能值分析的计算方法探讨了研究区实施生态退耕后的2001-2008年耕地劳动力和农资投入、产出、产投比的动态变化特征。结果表明：随着种植面积的变化,单位面积劳动力投入总体呈下降趋势,而农资投入呈波动上升趋势;单位面积产出大幅度波动,而产投比呈波动下降趋势;产投比的波动方向受劳动力投入、农资投入和降水量的制约明显。研究结果显示,生态退耕后,单纯注重增加农资投入、扩大种植面积,而忽视高素质劳动力的投入以及因地制宜利用气候条件,可能是耕地产投比波动下降的原因;同时,研究区农资投入强度的增加,使农业面源污染风险加大。     

Producer Services,Labor Market Segmentation and Peripheral Regions: The Case of Saskatchewan

ABSTRACT Within the last decade, a considerable literature has emerged on the growth and location of producer services employment in North America, and in the role of labor market characteristics in shaping these changes. One of the outcomes of this research has been the realization that producer services are overwhelmingly concentrated in metropolitan areas, and that there is a strong core-periphery dichotomy in the representation of these activities. This paper explores the labor market characteristics of a set of producer service activities within the peripheral urban hierarchy of Saskatchewan, Canada, dominated by the regional cores of Saskatoon and Regina, and surrounded by ten peripheral regions. The data set was provided by Employment Canada, and divided into Canada Employment Centre (CEC) Areas. It was found that the higher order producer services, such as Finance and Business Services, are significantly underrepresented relative to the rest of Canada, while others, such as Services to Primary Producers and Transportation and Communications, are significantly overrepresented. However, the nature of these services, as reflected in their labor market characteristics, are very different. Gender and the role of part-time labor appear to be distinguished on the basis of the specific producer service sector, with very few distinctions across space. On the other hand, differences in the roles played by part-year labor is less related to the sector and more related to position within the peripheral hierarchy. Although the heartland-hinterland model is usually applied at national or even international scales of analysis, the nature of the segmentation of the producer services labor force, and its relationship to urbanization and development of the sector, imply that the model can in fact be used as a fiamework for analyzing intraregional employment relationships within the periphery. This study highlights the nature of the labor force as one aspect of this framework.     

Are Teen Unemployment Rates Influenced by State Minimum Wage Laws?

ABSTRACT Several recent studies have challenged the conventional notion that raising the minimum wage has negative labor market consequences. In particular, most recent minimum wage research has considered teen employment, with virtually no examination of unemployment rates. Given the conflicting findings in the recent literature, this study reconsiders this issue by examining the minimum wage's influence on teen unemployment rates. The empirical analysis considers state data from the latter 1980s, a unique period where many states raised their minimum wage above the federal level. The results suggest that both a greater minimum wage rate and greater minimum wage coverage increase teen unemployment rates. Further evidence suggests that employment declines outweigh teen labor force reductions, suggesting that increases in unemployment are primarily caused by labor demand shifts. Thus, policy makers should weigh these costs in deciding future minimum wage hikes.     

Can the Informal Economy Be “Managed”?: Comparing Approaches and Effectiveness of Day‐Labor Management Policies in the San Diego Metropolitan Area

Day‐labor hiring sites are found in more than 120 municipalities across the U.S., there is limited research examining the specific drivers that generate direct interventions into the day‐labor market, nor is there any research examining the effectiveness of day‐labor management policies. In what follows, I draw on examples from the San Diego Metropolitan Area (SDMA) to address this gap in policy‐research. The findings demonstrate the pervasiveness of neoliberal ideology in day‐labor management, from policing strategies to social service provision. In each case examined, local governments only took direct action when they believed day‐labor activity threatened local commercial activity or when residents' fear of “illegal immigrant” day‐laborers made them question the state's ability to control space effectively. In each case, I also evaluate the effectiveness and cost of the management strategy. The results of this analysis clearly demonstrate that attempts to eliminate day‐labor activity are costly and expensive while efforts to formalize day‐labor cost less and have a higher success rate.     

Real Wages and Unemployment in Local Labor Markets: Pennsylvania MSAs, 1975-86

This paper specifies an unemployment rate model with relatively long lags on the manufacturing real wage and the level of real GNP as the independent variables. Estimates of the model for 12 MSAs in Pennsylvania over the period from 1975:2 to 1986:4 generally indicate a fairly strong positive unemployment response to lagged real wages. This is consistent with theoretical models of the labor market that hypothesize strong real wage effects during periods of aggregate supply shocks. The unique characteristics of the time period under study and the disaggregation to local labor markets might account for the fact that, in contrast to many previous empirical studies, we are able to uncover evidence of a positive real wage-unemployment relationship in U.S. time series data.     

北京家庭农场发展模式探析

(目的)家庭农场作为一种新的农业组织形式近年在国内得到大力推广,但北京家庭农场的发展还处于试点阶段,还没有形成适合的模式。(方法)通过对北京在试点过程中出现的规模没有标准、劳动力缺乏、土地使用和劳动力成本高、市场运作能力弱、融资难等问题进行分析研究,借鉴上海、台湾、美国、德国、日本等国内外家庭农场发展的成功经验,(结论)提出因地制宜、适度规模,以特色农产品为抓手进行专业化生产,政策引导、制度保障、完善农业社会服务体系,发展生态型家庭农场,市场化运作、注重创新和加强农场主培训等发展方式,从而形成适宜北京的家庭农场发展模式。     

Labor Market of a U.S.-Japanese Automobile Joint Venture

Starting with a brief location analysis of the plant site, in this paper we analyze the characteristics and geography of the labor market for a U.S.- Japanese automobile joint venture. Based on a survey of the firm's employees, we show that the labor market is two-tiered and stretches over many states in the United States. There are clear differences in skills, gender and socio-demographic characteristics between short and long distance movers, and American workers are willing and able to adapt to technology and work practices originating in a different culture. Most employees hold positive opinions of the work environment and practices at the plant, Japanese influence in the U.S. economy and U.S.-Japanese economic relations, despite perceiving Japan as an economic threat to the United States. We conclude with some policy implications of our findings and an agenda for future research.