Why are gender wage gaps lower in northern than in southern states of India, despite comparable (and in some respects higher) measures of gender equality in the south? In addressing this question, I develop a model of social norms that stigmatize women’s wage work and generate lower rates of...

This paper studies how demographics affect aggregate labor market power, the urban wage premium and the spatial concentration of population. I develop a quantitative spatial model in which labor market competitiveness depends on the demographic composition of the local workforce. Using highly...

This study examines the impact of husbands’ wages on their wives’ labor force participation rates and hours worked in urban China from 1995 to 2018. We find that an increase in husbands’ wages reduces the labor force participation rate of married women with similar education levels....

Young women outnumber young men in cities in many countries during periods of economic growth and urbanization. This gender imbalance among young urbanites is more pronounced in larger cities. We use the gradual rollout of special economic zones across China as a quasi-experiment to establish...

Using educational and occupational statistics derived from 30,000 marriage registers obtained from six major cities in British colonial Africa, we show how early colonial mission education helped African men access formal labour. Women were relegated to informal and homemaking activities...

This paper explores the connection between skilled foreign labor, urban agglomeration, and value creation through the lens of H-1B visa applications. We find that the spatial distribution of H-1B visas, which are awarded to highly skilled foreign-born workers, is heavily concentrated in a few...

This study examines the impact of husbands' wages on their wives' labor force participation rates and hours worked in urban China from 1995 to 2018. We find that an increase in husbands' wages reduces the labor force participation rate of married women with similar education levels. Controlling...

We analyze the change in the urban wage premium over the last 60 years. We focus on differences by gender and skill levels, with an emphasis on changes throughout the earnings distribution. We assess the importance of both changing selection into urban areas, as well as the importance of shifts...

Cities are intricately interconnected socioeconomic systems, with transport networks connecting people to their jobs, health, and education facilities, and ensuring the smooth functioning of supply chains. When floods happen, they isolate people and firms from these vital networks, causing...

The paper explores the properties of a modern urban model in which households' and firms’ locations in the city are endogenously determined as functions of technology, preferences, and geography. This class of model provides insights into the factors that determine the shape and growth of...

While most empirical studies document that cognitive and social skills are strong predictors of individual earnings, their impact is not homogenous in space. We argue that dense urban settings utilize cognitive and social skills more intensively than rural areas, therefore the labour market...

Many developing countries exhibit a puzzling pattern given their scarce human capital: unemployment rates increase with education. We develop and estimate a model where educated unemployment arises from heterogeneous workers participating in a frictional labour market with three sectors (public,...

In recent years the land-rent gradient for the city of London has flattened by 17 percentage points. Further, teleworking has increased 24 percentage point for skilled workers, but much less for unskilled workers. To rationalize these stylized facts, we propose a model of the monocentric city...

This paper analyzes the historical evidence of the gender gap in employment and wages in Mexico. We construct consistent time series from 1988:Q1 to 2019:Q4 using employment surveys, and estimate a model of labor participation in the formal market and wages for each gender and quarter,...

This paper examines the consequences of the commuter transport revolution on working-class labour markets in London, circa 1930. Using GIS-based data constructed from the New Survey of London Life and Labour , we examine the extent of commuting and estimate the earnings returns to commuting. We...

The movement of people from an economic deserted area in search of favorable economic fortune elsewhere has been an age long practice, that was birthed and promoted by poverty, extreme weather condition, terrorism, ethic and communal crisis among other social and economic vices present in...

This study intends to answer the specific skills and skills Ethiopian planners, particularly Amhara National Regional State's Regiopolitan cities planners, require the most in their urban planning profession. In today's urban world, understanding city dynamics, forecasting and predicting vibrant...

In this paper we explore the effects of labor demand shifts and population adjustments across metropolitan areas on the employment and earnings of various demographic groups during the 1980s. Results show that, although earnings and employment deteriorated for less-education and black males in...

This study harnesses the imbalance in urban educational resources across China to investigate how such resources affect corporate labor costs. We find that urban educational resources negatively affect corporate labor costs and that the effect is causal. We further show that urban educational...

This paper studies the effect of minimum wage changes on spatial equilibriums in local labor markets. Using data for the U.S. and minimum wage variation across state borders, I analyze how commuting, residence, and employment locations change in response to local minimum wage changes. I find...

Are recessions drivers of structural change? Here we investigate the resilience of cities, and argue that a re-allocation of labour between industrial sectors in times of crisis induces an acceleration in structural change. Using UK data, we find that cities experienced a sharp increase in...

In this study, we explore the correlates of the employment gender gap among urban youth in Mozambique. Young people are confronted with simultaneous decisions about education, work and family life influenced by social norms around gender roles. Using data from a panel of individuals in 2017 and...

Informal self-employed traders in developing countries are vulnerable to shocks as they often lack access to social insurance or formal finance. This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these urban traders in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo. Drawing on longitudinal phone...

A rapidly urbanizing world presents enormous economic opportunities for the poor and vulnerable but also presents significant barriers to their economic inclusion. About two thirds of the world's population is expected to live in urban centers by 2050, with nearly 90 percent of this increase in...

This paper examines the labor market and jobs in urban Kinshasa, by drawing on a recently collected household survey and other data sets. It particularly focuses on labor supply and employment patterns, job characteristics, and their spatial nexus. The analysis first shows that female and young...

The Ethiopian labor market is facing the dual challenge of creating new employment opportunities for the rapidly expanding labor force and improving the quality of existing jobs in the labor market. In this paper, the authors estimate an earnings function for the urban wage-employed to...

The incidence of working for earnings beyond the normal pension age of 55 for females and 60 for males in urban China and Russia is investigated using micro-data for 2002, 2013, and 2018. Estimated logit models show that, in both countries, the probability of working after normal retirement age...