PRODUCTIVITY GAINS FROM GEOGRAPHIC CONCENTRATION OF HUMAN-CAPITAL - EVIDENCE FROM THE CITIES

Based on recent theoretical developments the argument is made that the average level of human capital is a local public good. Cities with higher average levels of human capital should therefore have higher wages and higher land rents. After conditioning on the characteristics of individual workers and dwellings, this prediction is supported by data for Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) in the United States, where the SMSA average levels of formal education and work experience are used as proxies for the average level of human capital. The alternative explanations of omitted SMSA variables and self-selection are evaluated. An estimate of the effect of an additional year of average education on total factor productivity is computed. © 1993 Academic Press. All rights reserved.