Category Archives: Economy

Easiest (and Hardest) States to Find Full-Time Work

Source: Thomas C. Frohlich, Michael B. Sauter and Evan Comen, 24/7 Wall St., August 10, 2016

More than a quarter million jobs were added to the U.S. economy in July, and the official unemployment rate remained unchanged at just under 5%, according to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, some of these jobs were undesired part-time positions, and the official unemployment rate often gives an incomplete picture of the nation’s labor market.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the underemployment rate in every state. Nevada is the hardest state in which to find full-time work, with an underemployment rate of 13.1%. South Dakota is arguably the best state for job seekers, with an underemployment rate of 5.0%.

Exploring the Redistribution of Manufacturing Employment Among the American States in the Face of Overall Declines in Employment

Source: Richard V. Adkisson, Comfort F. Ricketts, Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 30 no. 3, August 2016

From the abstract:
Over the period 2001-2011 national employment in all 21 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries has trended downward. The change in employment appears to be correlated with the regional redistribution of employment. This study explores changes in manufacturing employment between 2001 and 2012 as influenced by initial state-specific socioeconomic characteristics, state policy, market access, and state- and industry-specific conditions. The analysis is conducted for all 21 NAICS manufacturing industries to observe patterns and deduce information about factors that most consistently and frequently influence manufacturing employment in these industries across the United States.

Arts Stability and Growth Amid Redevelopment in U.S. Shrinking Cities’ Downtowns: A Case Study

Source: Joanna P. Ganning, Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 30 no. 3, August 2016

From the abstract:
While the relationship between arts businesses and redevelopment has been studied extensively in world-class cities, it remains understudied in weaker market cities. With tight municipal budgets, shrinking cities cannot afford to not understand both the benefits of the arts for downtown redevelopment and the impact of redevelopment on the arts. Using block-level data for a U.S. shrinking city’s downtown (St. Louis), this study finds that the arts have neither anchored redevelopment nor been driven out of the downtown by redevelopment. The latter finding signals an opportunity for shrinking cities to harness the benefits of the arts in downtown redevelopment.

The Long-Run Economic Impact of an Institution of Higher Education: Estimating the Human Capital Contribution

Source: Tom Johansen, Kathleen Arano, Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 30 no. 3, August 2016
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
One of the main contributions of higher education institutions is human capital. In the context of regional universities, their primary impact can be measured through the future income stream of alumni who remain in the local area for work. This constitutes a long-run impact and a substantial part of the overall economic impact of an institution to the local, regional, and national economies. This study provides an important contribution to the existing literature by developing a methodology that takes into account the counterfactual, allowing for the more precise definition of economic impact. The methodology is applied to a public regional university.

Declining Entrepreneurship, Labor Mobility, and Business Dynamism: A Demand-Side Approach

Source: Mike Konczal and Marshall Steinbaum, Roosevelt Institute, July 21, 2016

From the blog post:
We—Marshall Steinbaum, who has recently joined the Roosevelt Institute as a visiting fellow, and Mike Konczal—have a new working paper out titled Declining Entrepreneurship, Labor Mobility, and Business Dynamism: A Demand-side Approach. …. This paper provides an alternative explanation for the recent trends of declining entrepreneurship, falling labor mobility, and rising concentration of employment in old firms and large firms. Our explanation focuses on weakening demand, especially during the slow recovery from the last two recessions. That demand slowdown should, in turn, be investigated further, keeping in mind both secular stagnation and how power is shifting in favor of the owners and managers of incumbent firms alongside rising profits and inter-firm inequality.

The key findings in this report are:
• Wages Are Falling the Most Where Dynamism Has Fallen the Most. …..
• Those Who Do Switch Jobs Have Flat, or Even Declining, Wage Increases. …..
• Dynamism and Fluidity Are Procyclical. …..

Casting a Long Shadow? Cross-border Spillovers of Shadow Economy across American States

Source: Rajeev K. Goel, James W. Saunoris, Public Finance Review, Vol. 44 no. 5, September 2016
(subscription required)

From the abstract:
This article examines the determinants of the shadow economy across American states, with emphasis on cross-border spillover effects. Results show positive spillovers of shadow activities across state borders with different specifications. In other effects, greater unionization in a state induces businesses to go underground, while states without a sales tax had a smaller shadow economy, ceteris paribus. Greater state product checked shadow growth, with military and nonmilitary state products having opposite effects. Finally, states bordering Canada and Mexico had different flows from the shadow sector.

Paid Sick Days Benefit Employers, Workers, and the Economy

Source: Jessica Milli, Jenny Xia, Jisun Min, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, IWPR #B361, July 2016

From the abstract:
Millions of workers have gained access to paid sick days in recent years through new laws in five states, 23 cities, and one county across the country. Yet millions more still would not be paid if they need to stay at home when they are sick or need to care for a family member who is ill. As of 2014, 51 million workers lacked access to paid sick days. Research has documented many benefits of paid sick days policies for workers, businesses, and communities as a whole. These benefits would multiply substantially if more workers gained access to paid sick days. This briefing paper summarizes research on the benefits of paid sick days and the effects of paid sick days policies in places that have them.

Will Cleveland get an economic boost from Trump’s GOP coronation?

Source: Jay L. Zagorsky, The Conversation, July 13, 2016

The Republican National Convention is coming to Cleveland, and boosters are cheering the millions of dollars it will bring to northeast Ohio’s businesses. There are lots of impact studies of previous Republican and Democratic nominating conventions. Each seems to produce more eye-popping figures than the last. However, some academics and journalists suggest these conventions really have no impact on the local economy. Which is the true story?