Learning by Working in Big Cities

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: De La Roca, Jorge; Puga, Diego
• 署名单位: University of Southern California
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6527
• DOI: 10.1093/restud/rdw031
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 106-142
• 关键词: life-cycle; wage; Heterogeneity; agglomeration; PRODUCTIVITY; determinants; earnings; spain

摘要

Individual earnings are higher in bigger cities. We consider three reasons: spatial sorting of initially more productive workers, static advantages from workers' current location, and learning by working in bigger cities. Using rich administrative data for Spain, we find that workers in bigger cities do not have higher initial unobserved ability as reflected in fixed effects. Instead, they obtain an immediate static premium and accumulate more valuable experience. The additional value of experience in bigger cities persists after leaving and is stronger for those with higher initial ability. This explains both the higher mean and greater dispersion of earnings in bigger cities.