Geographical Locations of Occupations and Information and Communication Technology: Do Online Tools Impact Where People in the United States Live and Work?

This article investigates whether the development of information and communication technology (ICT) contributes to the dispersion of wealthy and talented people and helps prevent the concentration of wealth in only a few cities. In between some authors’ positive speculation on the role of ICT in reducing the necessity of physical distance and others’ emphasis on the vital role of offline interaction, the current research takes a broader view and investigates whether the technology impacts the concentration of jobs across the U.S. cities in the years 2006 and 2016. Using data from Occupational Employment Statistics surveys and the Occupational Information Network, I measure the significance of location for occupations by exploring geographical concentration and the interdependence of occupation dyads. The results show there is no evidence to support the assertion that ICT skills required for occupation were negatively associated with the geographical dispersion of the occupation in the study period. Instead, the research indicates that occupational ICT strengthened the geographical interdependence of occupations. The finds show that, in particular, jobs requiring higher ICT skills continued to be bounded to locations between 2006 and 2016. Overall, the results show there is no evidence for the claim that ICT is associated with the dispersion of geographical locations of occupations. The results suggest that rising communication technology will not necessarily diminish the concentration of good jobs or wealth inequality between cities.