Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T13:36:07.862Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Effects of Workforce Creativity on Earnings in U.S. Counties

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Todd M. Gabe
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine
Kristen Colby
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine
Kathleen P. Bell
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine
Get access

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of local workforce creativity on county-level earnings. Descriptive analysis of the data shows that most of the high-creativity counties in the United States are part of metropolitan areas, and that employee earnings are high in these places. Regression results indicate that, other things being equal, workforce creativity enhances county-level labor earnings. However, the returns to creativity that we found can be confirmed only in the urban context. An extension of the analysis suggests that the creative workforce wage premium may be capturing the effects of “technical workforce creativity” on earnings.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anselin, L. 1988. Spatial Econometrics: Methods and Models. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.Google Scholar
Anselin, L. 2002. “Under the Hood: Issues in the Specification and Interpretation of Spatial Regression Models.Agricultural Economics 27(3): 247267.Google Scholar
Anselin, L. 2005. “Exploring Spatial Data with GeoDa: A Workbook” (revised March 6, 2005). Center for Spatially Integrated Social Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA.Google Scholar
Beyers, W., and Lindahl, D. 1996. “Lone Eagles and High Fliers in Rural Producer Services.Rural Development Perspectives 11(3): 210.Google Scholar
Deller, S, Tsai, T., Marcouiller, D., and English, D. 2001. “The Role of Amenities and Quality of Life in Rural Economic Growth.American Journal of Agricultural Economics 83(2): 352365.Google Scholar
Felton, M. 1978. “The Economics of the Creative Arts: The Case of the Composer.Journal of Cultural Economics 2(1): 4161.Google Scholar
Filer, R. 1986. “The ‘Starving Artist’: Myth or Reality? Earnings of Artists in the United States.Journal of Political Economy 94(1): 5675.Google Scholar
Florida, R. 2002a. The Rise of the Creative Class. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Florida, R. 2002b. “Bohemia and Economic Geography.Journal of Economic Geography 2(1): 5571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glaeser. E. 1999. “Learning in Cities.Journal of Urban Economics 46(2): 254277.Google Scholar
Glaeser. E. 2004. Review of Richard Florida's The Rise of the Creative Class . Available at http://post.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/glaeser/papers/Review_Florida.pdf (accessed October 2, 2006).Google Scholar
Glaeser, E., Kolko, J., and Saiz, A. 2001. “Consumer City.Journal of Economic Geography 1(1): 2750.Google Scholar
Glaeser, E., and Mare, D. 2001. “Cities and Skills.Journal of Labor Economics 19(2): 316342.Google Scholar
Heilbrun, J. 1996. “Growth, Accessibility and the Distribution of Arts Activity in the United States: 1980 to 1990.Journal of Cultural Economics 20(4): 283296.Google Scholar
Hoch, I. 1972. “Income and City Size.Urban Studies 9(3): 299328.Google Scholar
Jacobs, J. 1969. The Economy of Cities. New York: Vintage.Google Scholar
Markusen, A. 2004. “Targeting Occupations in Regional and Community Economic Development.Journal of the American Planning Association 70(3): 253268.Google Scholar
Markusen, A., and King, D. 2003. “The Artistic Dividend: The Arts’ Hidden Contributions to Regional Development.” Project on Regional Industrial Economics, Humphrey Institute on Public Affairs, University of Minnesota.Google Scholar
McGranahan, D. 1999. “Natural Amenities Drive Rural Population Change.” Agricultural Economic Report No. 781, Food and Rural Economics Division, Economic Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
McGranahan, D., and Wojan, T. Forthcoming. “Recasting the Creative Class to Identify Rural Potential.” Regional Studies.Google Scholar
Moomaw, R. 1981. “Productivity and City Size: A Critique of the Evidence.Quarterly Journal of Economics 96(4): 675688.Google Scholar
New England Council. 2000. “The Creative Economy Initiative: The Role of the Arts and Culture in New England's Economic Competitiveness.New England Council, Boston, MA. Google Scholar
Peck, J. 2005. “Struggling with the Creative Class.International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 29(4): 740770.Google Scholar
Peterson, N., Mumford, M., Borman, W., Jeanneret, P., Fleishman, E., Levin, K., Campion, M., Mayfield, M., Morgeson, F., Pearlman, K., Gowing, M., Lancaster, A., Silver, M., and Dye, D. 2001. “Understanding Work Using the Occupational Information Network (O*NET): Implications for Practice and Research.Personnel Psychology 54(2): 451492.Google Scholar
Roback, J. 1982. “Wages, Rents, and the Quality of Life.Journal of Political Economy 90(6): 12571278.Google Scholar
Rosenfeld, S. 2004. “Art and Design as Competitive Advantage: A Creative Enterprise Cluster in the Western United States.European Planning Studies 12(6): 891904.Google Scholar
Segal, D. 1976. “Are There Returns to Scale in City Size?Review of Economics and Statistics 58(3): 339350.Google Scholar
Wojan, T. 2006. “The Emergence of Rural Artistic Havens: A First Look.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Southern Regional Science Council Association, St. Augustine, Florida, March 30 through April 1, 2006.Google Scholar
Yankow, J. 2006. “Why Do Cities Pay More? An Empirical Examination of Some Competing Theories of the Urban Wage Premium.Journal of Urban Economics 60(2): 139161.Google Scholar