The U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and Commodity Transportation Services among U.S. States

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) implemented beginning in 1989 by the United States aid Canada will have significant impacts on bilateral trading patterns. In addition to its long-term, investment-related repercussions, the FTA will affect the volume, commodity composition, and spatial distribution of trade and, consequently, the transportation services required to move commodities between the two nations. This paper examines the changing spatial structure of U.S.-Canadian trade under the FTA. It employs commodity-specific analyses of tariffs and non-tariff barriers, as well as price and income elasticities of demand, to estimate sectoral and special changes among U.S. states in total, land, water, and airborne commodity flows since 1988 attributable to the FTA. The analysis details the assumptions and methodology used, elaborates upon the likely consequences for me nation's ten largest customs districts, particularly New York, and concludes with some comments on other forces that may alter the expected results.     

The Impact of the Maquiladora Industry on U.S. Border Cities

For decades, the maquiladora industry has been a major economic engine along the U.S.–Mexico border. Since the 1970s, researchers have analyzed how the maquiladora industry affects cities along both sides of the border. Hanson produced the first comprehensive study on the impact of the maquiladoras on U.S. border cities, considering the effects of in‐bond plants on both employment and wages. His estimates became useful rules of thumb for the entire U.S.–Mexico border; however, they have become dated. Using Hanson's framework, we estimate the maquiladora industry impact on U.S. border cities from 1990 to 2006. We find that a 10 percent increase in maquiladora production leads to a 0.5 to 0.9 percent increase in employment. We also find large differences among individual border cities. Furthermore, we estimate the cross‐border maquiladora impacts before and after 2001 when border security begins to rise, and the global low‐wage competition intensified after China joined the World Trade Organization. Empirical results indicate that U.S. border cities are less responsive to growth in maquiladora production from 2001 to 2006 than in the earlier period; however, when looking into specific sectors, we find that U.S. border city employment in service sectors is more responsive post‐2001.     

The Changing Regional Structure of the U.S. Economy

This paper utilizes newly available industry-specific historical measures of Gross Regional Product to highlight the changing regional structure of the U.S. economy between 1963 and 1986. During this period, the percentage of U.S. output produced in the eight different regions changed significantly. The largest changes occurred in the Great Lakes (?3.65 percent), Mideast (?3.32 percent), and Southeast (+3.64 percent). Four major industry sectors (Agriculture, Mining, Construction, and Government) declined in relative importance in all eight regions. Five major industry sectors (TCPU, Retail Trade, Wholesale Trade, FIRE, and Services) expanded in relative importance. Somewhat surprisingly, Manufacturing output expanded for the U.S. as a whole and for six of the eight regions. The perception of decline in the relative importance of manufacturing in the U.S. is clearly based on the dramatic declines in the once dominant manufacturing base of the Mideast and Great Lakes regions.     

The Influence of Booms and Busts in the U.S. Economy on the Interstate Migration System

Migration flows around the U.S. have shown a great deal of temporal and geographical differentiation over the past few decades. However, the recent downturn in the U.S. economy provides a renewed motivation to explore the relationship between the macro‐economy and interstate migration. To address this issue, in this paper patterns of interstate migration are analyzed using IRS data and several migration efficiency measures for 18 2‐year time periods, 1988–2006. Included in the analysis is an examination of the relationship between system migration and economic change, structural changes in the migration system over time (national and state level), and changes in the geography of state‐level migration efficiency rates. As might be expected, the two full business cycles that occurred over this time period saw significant short‐term changes in migration flows, although the economic downturn of 2001‐02 may indicate more fundamental changes in the migration system.     

美国的生物入侵管理体制

外来入侵物种(IAS)给美国造成了严重的环境、健康和经济等问题,美国对其生物入侵管理体制进行了改革,于1999年颁布了生物入侵基本法并建立了国家入侵种委员会,由此形成了以该委员会为核心、联邦政府各部门为主体、州和地方政府协调配合的新管理体制,该体制在过去10年间运转良好并富有成效,值得其他国家借鉴.     

美国植物种质资源保护与研究利用

美国不是作物起源中心,但却是世界上保存植物种质资源最多的国家。美国拥有较完善的植物种质资源保护体系,其法律法规、管理制度、种质资源交换与共享政策、资助体系等稳定而灵活,保存设施和信息网络建设稳步发展,在种质资源收集、鉴定评价、新基因发掘、种质创新等方面针对不同作物的需求均取得了很大成效,充分体现出种质资源的基础性和公益性特点。本文在全面评述美国植物种质资源保护与研究利用情况的基础上,对我国种质资源保护、研究和管理提出了建议。     

Patterns of Broadband Efficiency in the U.S

Data envelopment analysis is used to assess the efficiency of broadband Internet adoption and use in the U.S. Analyses at the state level from 2005 to 2007 suggest that broadband adoption and use is not equally efficient across the U.S. states. Although the instantaneous efficiencies are relatively high for many states, the changes in total factor productivity suggest that the efficiency of broadband adoption and use still increases over time. Moreover, it is observed that efficiency values are often spatially autocorrelated, which suggests spatial dependency from spillovers or interstate competition. This leads to a particular spatial diffusion pattern in broadband adoption. Although states have different strategies in support of broadband expansion they need to identify their shortcomings and use the appropriate mix of inputs (and outputs) to improve their efficiencies.     

The Great Recession and the Migration Redistribution of Blacks and Whites in the U.S. South

For much of the last century, the South was a net loser of blacks and whites to other regions. The end of this “Great Migration” occurred around 1970. Since then, the South is the only U.S. region to gain both blacks and whites through migration in every decade. As recessions often perturb migration systems by restraining rates of movement and altering patterns, this paper explores how the Great Recession of 2007–2009 and its aftermath affected the established migration gains of native‐born blacks and whites within the South. We use data from the 1990 and 2000 censuses and pooled data from American Community Survey to evaluate these changes. While the South continued to add both blacks and whites from migration during the recessionary years, key states bucked this trend. Georgia, for example, experienced a net migration gain of blacks but a net loss of whites. Florida added population in all time periods studied but lost large numbers of educated blacks and whites between 2008–2010. Texas, in contrast, added both blacks and whites from migration no matter their age or education throughout the recent recession. This economic downturn, then, has disturbed long‐term migration patterns in the South. A more nuanced set of interstate movements has emerged, differentiated by age and education within race groups, which we suspect will last for some time.     

The Spatial Structure of Large U. S. Law Firms

Large law firms exert a disproportionate influence over the structure and practice of the legal profession. The spatial structure of these corporations, including the distribution of headquarters and branch offices and their interlinkages, is poorly understood. This paper explores the geography of domestic employment among the largest U. S. 500 law firms using linkage analysis. It highlights the concentration of such firms in large cities and the particular importance of New York and Washington, D. C. In the international arena, U. S. law firms are highly influential. The paper examines the spatial distribution of overseas employment by large U. S. law firms and utilizes input-output analysis to explore the domestic employment impacts of foreign legal services exports.     

Sources of Output Change in the U.S. Economy

Output changes in the U.S. economy from 1972 to 1977 are analyzed using a 477-sector input-output framework. The empirical model is based on benchmark data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Commodity output changes are attributed to technical change, import substitution, changes in domestic final demand, and changes in export demand. Special attention is given to the importance of international trade and the patterns of change observed in rapidly growing and declining sectors. The results indicate that 71 percent of the sectors lost domestic market share to imports, but on balance international trade contributed to positive output change through increased exports. Technology changes became increasingly important in sectors of the economy experiencing either rapid growth or decline. Conversely, final demand, exports, and import substitution generally appeared to be most important in the slowly changing sectors. These findings confirm and expand on earlier work that indicated a dominant role for technology changes in explaining output changes in emerging and declining industries.     

Globalization and Regional Change in the U.S. Furniture Industry

ABSTRACT Furniture manufacturing has experienced rapid globalization in recent years. This is mainly the result of global production networks established by large manufacturers and retailers seeking to reduce costs in a highly competitive environment. The industry's globalization has been facilitated by technological innovations and the global reduction of trade and investment barriers. In the U.S., furniture‐producing regions are experiencing tumultuous change. Growing numbers of firms are outsourcing production to China, which is now responsible for about half of all U.S. furniture imports. Employment levels have plummeted. However, an analysis of spatial patterns of employment, output, and capital investment in U.S. furniture manufacturing shows that regional change is not uniform. Southern regions characterized by larger firms specializing in wooden case goods production have been especially vulnerable to job loss.     

Imbalanced sex ratios and housing prices in the U.S.

This paper investigates whether imbalanced local sex ratios are associated with housing prices in the U.S. at the county level during the period 2000–2017, based on the hypothesis that the importance for men of advertising financial resources by spending more on housing increases in the marriage market where there is a scarcity of women. The results indicate that an increase of 0.1 in sex ratio is associated with approximately a 2% increase in housing prices, suggesting that men may allocate more resources toward mating effort by increasing their spending on housing when there is an abundance of men. There is little evidence that the positive association was greater during the housing bubble.     

The impact of foreign influence on exporting through open innovation

Foreign direct investment brings both increased competitive pressures and opportunities for domestic Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Competition may force them to seek new international markets, but also provide access to international customers. However, as economies become more knowledge-based in order to access international markets, SMEs must seek to innovate. This study examines how foreign firm presence and innovation influence the exporting activities of SMEs. It contributes to the existing literature by dividing innovation into product/process innovation and in-house/open innovation. With open innovation, products are more likely to be novel and productivity boosted to a larger degree. We interact different types of innovation with foreign influence to examine whether there is a moderating influence on the relationship. The individual firm level data and foreign influence data are from the Longitudinal Small Business Survey and Office for National Statistics. Whether firms are active exporters is explored using multilevel logit regressions. Both innovative activities and the foreign influence increase the likelihood of exporting. In-house product innovation boosts export propensity to a lesser degree in areas with higher levels of foreign influence. The hypothesis that open innovation has more impact on exporting activities when foreign influence is greater is not supported for either type of innovation.     

Effects of the Housing Boom and Bust on U.S. Metro Employment

This paper examines the effects of the housing boom of the early 2000s on unemployment in U.S. metropolitan areas. A region's share of housing units built between 2000 and 2006 has no effect on unemployment prior to the start of the Great Recession, but the extent of a region's housing boom increases unemployment in over one‐half of the months analyzed during and immediately following it. Regression results based on a cluster analysis of metropolitan areas indicate that regions characterized by high growth rates of construction, retail, and hospitality employment during the early 2000s were hit particularly hard by the recession.     

Labor and the Geographic Reorganization of Container Shipping in the U.S.

The globalization of production and the geographic dispersion of economic activity have elevated the importance of the transportation and logistics sectors of the economy. One sector in particular that has experienced significant expansion is maritime transport and container shipping. As the cargo has become increasingly “discretionary” such that it can conceivably be transported through any port that allows intermodal access to the hinterland, the industry has become much more foot‐loose vis‐à‐vis a particular port of entry. The enhanced mobility of the cargo results in more intense port competition. One particular place to observe and study this dynamic is in the port and terminal selection of shippers and shipping lines and the role of port authorities in attempting to attract these carriers to their facilities. In this paper, the focus is on the role of labor and labor relations in such decisions. These issues will be studied in the context of the potential container traffic rerouting from the West to the East Coast of the U.S. and, as an illustrative case study, how these developments have played out for the East Coast port of Jacksonville, Florida.     

Growth and Change in U.S. Cities and Suburbs

Differential rates of growth and decentralization are processes that characterized U.S. urban areas over the past three decades. This paper examines the determinants of growth in cities and suburbs during the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s. The modeling approach adopted in the study allows for simultaneity between population and employment, and between cities and suburbs, while also taking into account a range of other explanatory factors. Results indicate that population and employment growth in cities tend to be jointly determined, but that growth of employment in the suburbs tends to drive growth of suburban population. Results also suggest that suburban and city growth are interrelated, but that the nature of these interrelationships varies over time: suburban growth promoted city growth during the 1970s and 1980s, while city and suburban growth were jointly determined during the 1990s. Other factors that consistently explain variation in city growth include demographics, population density, crime rates, and income inequality. Factors consistently explaining suburban growth include regional location and climate.