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Local Human Capital and Its Impact on Local Employment Chances in Britain

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  • Ioannis Kaplanis

Abstract

This paper examines how high human capital in a locality is associated with the employment outcomes of individuals. A probit model is used to examine how the employment probability of otherwise similar working age males is associated with changes in the share of degree holders in the local area. Different econometric specifications are employed in order to shed light on the positive effect found and its possible causes. The paper discusses three main accounts, referring to the consumption demand, productivity spillovers and production complementarities. For Britain, it is found that the share of high skill residents in a locality has a strong positive impact on the local employment chances of men with no qualifications. The effect on the local employment chances of the other educational groups is either insignificant or significant negative. These results are consistent with the consumer demand hypothesis that the presence of high educated, high income individuals in a locality boosts the demand for local low skill services. On the other hand, when the share of skilled workers is used, the results hint on possible simultaneous effect of production complementarities and productivity spillovers. However, the analysis points to the existing limitations of successfully isolating the consumption demand and the production function mechanisms and calls for further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioannis Kaplanis, 2010. "Local Human Capital and Its Impact on Local Employment Chances in Britain," SERC Discussion Papers 0040, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:sercdp:0040
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    1. Ian Richard Gordon & Ioannis Kaplanis, 2014. "Accounting for Big-City Growth in Low-Paid Occupations: Immigration and/or Service-Class Consumption," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 90(1), pages 67-90, January.
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    1. Ian Richard Gordon & Ioannis Kaplanis, 2014. "Accounting for Big-City Growth in Low-Paid Occupations: Immigration and/or Service-Class Consumption," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 90(1), pages 67-90, January.
    2. Badura, Ondřej & Melecký, Aleš & Melecký, Martin, 2023. "Liberalizing passenger rail: The effect of competition on local unemployment," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    3. Lee, Neil & Sissons, Paul & Hughes, Ceri & Green, Anne & Atfield, Gaby & Adam, Duncan & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés, 2014. "Cities, growth and poverty: evidence review," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 55799, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Saima Nawaz & Saba Anwar & Nasir Iqbal, 2021. "The Spatial Effects of Road Infrastructure on Employment in Pakistan: Quantifying the Role of Complementary Factors," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 60(3), pages 309-330.
    5. Kaplanis, Ioannis, 2010. "Wage effects from changes in local human capital in Britain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 33615, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Lee, Neil & Clarke, Stephen, 2019. "Do low-skilled workers gain from high-tech employment growth? High-technology multipliers, employment and wages in Britain," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    7. ., 2014. "Urban economic performance," Chapters, in: Urban Economics and Urban Policy, chapter 2, pages 11-53, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Neil Lee & Stephen Clarke, 2017. "Who gains from high-tech growth? High-technology multipliers, employment and wages in Britain," SPRU Working Paper Series 2017-14, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    9. Neil Lee & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2016. "Is There Trickle-Down from Tech? Poverty, Employment, and the High-Technology Multiplier in U.S. Cities," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 106(5), pages 1114-1134, September.
    10. Ana María Díaz, 2011. "The Employment Advantages of Skilled Urban Areas," Vniversitas Económica 10087, Universidad Javeriana - Bogotá.
    11. Neil Lee & Paul Sissons, 2016. "Inclusive growth? The relationship between economic growth and poverty in British cities," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(11), pages 2317-2339, November.
    12. Roderik Ponds & Gerard Marlet & Clemens van Woerkens & Harry Garretsen, 2016. "Taxi drivers with a PhD: trickle down or crowding-out for lower educated workers in Dutch cities?," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 9(2), pages 405-422.
    13. Neil Lee & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2013. "Innovation and spatial inequality in Europe and USA," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, January.
    14. Neil Lee, 2017. "Psychology and the Geography of Innovation," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 93(2), pages 106-130, March.
    15. John V. Winters, 2013. "Human capital externalities and employment differences across metropolitan areas of the USA," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(5), pages 799-822, September.
    16. Zehra Bilgen Susanlı, 2017. "Türkiye’de İşgücüne Katılım, İstihdam ve Beşeri Sermaye Dışsallıkları," Yildiz Social Science Review, Yildiz Technical University, vol. 3(1), pages 47-58.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    local labour markets; employment; consumer demand; human capital externalities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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