Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/141479 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 9720
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
In this paper, we analyze the spatial distribution of US employment and earnings against an urban wage-efficiency background, where leisure and effort at work are complementary. Using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) for the period 2003-2014, we analyze the spatial distribution of employment across metropolitan areas. We also empirically study the relationship between individual earnings and commuting and leisure. Our empirical results show that employment is mostly concentrated in metropolitan cores, and that earnings increase with "expected" commuting time, which gives empirical support to our urban wage-efficiency theory. Furthermore, we use Geographical Information System models to show that there is no common pattern of commuting and the employees-to-unemployed rate, although we find higher wages in comparatively crowded states, where average commuting times are also higher.
Subjects: 
urban wage-efficiency
earnings
commuting
leisure
American Time Use Survey
JEL: 
J21
J22
J31
R12
R41
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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