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Did the Computer Revolution shift the fortunes of U.S. cities? Technology shocks and the geography of new jobs

Berger, Thor LU and Frey, Carl Benedikt LU (2016) In Regional Science and Urban Economics 57. p.38-45
Abstract
This paper shows how the Computer Revolution of the 1980s shifted the economic trajectories of U.S. cities. Examining the emergence of new occupational titles in official census classifications, we document a sharp reversal in the skill content of new jobs. While technological change was biased towards routine skills throughout the 1970s, new job titles mainly appeared in occupations and industries that required abstract skills after 1980. This reversal is also reflected in the geography of new jobs. Following the Computer Revolution, the creation of new jobs shifted towards cities with endowments of analytical and interactive skills. Our results suggest that the recent divergence of U.S. cities can in part be explained by the... (More)
This paper shows how the Computer Revolution of the 1980s shifted the economic trajectories of U.S. cities. Examining the emergence of new occupational titles in official census classifications, we document a sharp reversal in the skill content of new jobs. While technological change was biased towards routine skills throughout the 1970s, new job titles mainly appeared in occupations and industries that required abstract skills after 1980. This reversal is also reflected in the geography of new jobs. Following the Computer Revolution, the creation of new jobs shifted towards cities with endowments of analytical and interactive skills. Our results suggest that the recent divergence of U.S. cities can in part be explained by the complementarities between new technologies and skill endowments. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Regional Science and Urban Economics
volume
57
pages
38 - 45
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:84954233376
ISSN
0166-0462
DOI
10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2015.11.003
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3434b98b-7b66-4012-82bf-cba072bade74
date added to LUP
2019-10-25 13:57:50
date last changed
2022-03-26 00:08:13
@article{3434b98b-7b66-4012-82bf-cba072bade74,
  abstract     = {{This paper shows how the Computer Revolution of the 1980s shifted the economic trajectories of U.S. cities. Examining the emergence of new occupational titles in official census classifications, we document a sharp reversal in the skill content of new jobs. While technological change was biased towards routine skills throughout the 1970s, new job titles mainly appeared in occupations and industries that required abstract skills after 1980. This reversal is also reflected in the geography of new jobs. Following the Computer Revolution, the creation of new jobs shifted towards cities with endowments of analytical and interactive skills. Our results suggest that the recent divergence of U.S. cities can in part be explained by the complementarities between new technologies and skill endowments.}},
  author       = {{Berger, Thor and Frey, Carl Benedikt}},
  issn         = {{0166-0462}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{38--45}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Regional Science and Urban Economics}},
  title        = {{Did the Computer Revolution shift the fortunes of U.S. cities? Technology shocks and the geography of new jobs}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2015.11.003}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2015.11.003}},
  volume       = {{57}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}