Human Capital Growth in a Cross Section of U.S. Metropolitan Areas (ICPSR 1329)

Version Date: Oct 2, 2006

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Principal Investigator(s):
Christopher H. Wheeler, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR01329.v1

Version V1

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Summary

Human capital growth, defined as the change in the fraction of a metropolitan area's labor force with a bachelor's degree, is typically viewed as generating a number of desirable outcomes, including economic growth. Yet, in spite of its importance, few empirical studies have explored why some economies accumulate more human capital than others. This paper attempts to do so using a sample of more than 200 metropolitan areas in the United States over the years 1980, 1990, and 2000. The results reveal two consistently significant correlates of human capital growth: population and the existing stock of college-educated labor. Given that population growth and human capital growth are both positively associated with education, these results suggest that the geographic distributions of population and human capital should have become more concentrated in recent decades. That is, larger, more-educated metropolitan areas should have exhibited the fastest rates of increase in both population and education and thus 'pulled away' from smaller, less-education metropolitan areas. The evidence largely supports this conclusion.

Citation

Wheeler, Christopher H. Human Capital Growth in a Cross Section of U.S. Metropolitan Areas. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-10-02. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR01329.v1

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Funding

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Research Division

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

1980, 1990, 2000

Data Collection Notes

  1. One file, 0603cw.exe, which unzips to the data and program files with a readme file, were submitted.

  2. These data are part of ICPSR's Publication-Related Archive and are distributed exactly as they arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigators if further information is desired.

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Original Release Date

2006-10-02

Version History

2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:

  • Wheeler, Christopher H. Human Capital Growth in a Cross Section of U.S. Metropolitan Areas. ICPSR01329-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-10-02. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR01329.v1

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Notes

  • These data are flagged as replication datasets and are distributed exactly as they arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.