Jobs for the Heartland: Place-Based Policies in 21st Century America

TitleJobs for the Heartland: Place-Based Policies in 21st Century America
Publication TypeReport
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsAustin, B, Glaeser, EL, Summers, L
Series TitleNBER Working Paper Series
Document NumberWorking Paper No. 24548
Pagination1-85
Date Published04/2018
InstitutionNational Bureau of Economic Research
CityCambridge, MA
KeywordsEconomics, Employment and Labor Force, Retirement Planning and Satisfaction
Abstract

The economic convergence of American regions has greatly slowed, and rates of long-term non-employment have even been diverging. Simultaneously, the rate of non-employment for working age men has nearly tripled over the last 50 years, generating a terrible social problem that is disproportionately centered in the eastern parts of the American heartland. Should more permanent economic divisions across space lead American economists to rethink their traditional skepticism about place-based policies? We document that increases in labor demand appear to have greater impacts on employment in areas where not working has been historically high, suggesting that subsidizing employment in such places could particularly reduce the not working rate. Pro-employment policies, such as a ramped up Earned Income Tax Credit, that are targeted towards regions with more elastic employment responses, however financed, could plausibly reduce suffering and materially improve economic performance.

URLhttp://www.nber.org/papers/w24548.pdf
DOI10.3386/w24548
Citation Key9593