Working Papers
(Job Market Paper) "The Concentration of Economic Activity Within Cities: Evidence from New Commercial Buildings", UEA North America 2023, LACEA/LAMES 2023, LAUrban 2023
Available here
Abstract: I explore the opening of large commercial buildings to study how local economic activity is affected by an employment shock. My methodology combines the typical ring approach, which involves comparing neighborhoods nearer and farther away, with a matching procedure to obtain samples of neighborhoods with a similar probability of observing a new building in their vicinity. I find that neighborhoods within 250 meters of a new building experience a 12.9% differential increase in employment, driven by high-skilled offices and local services. I estimate that for every two additional jobs created in high-skilled offices, one job is created in local services. I also present suggestive evidence that the productivity of high-skilled offices is affected. There is an increase in the share of college-educated workers and the wages in this sector, which seems to be driven to a good extent by the entry of new firms. Overall, my findings indicate that both productivity spillovers and local demand are crucial ingredients of urban concentration. New buildings increase the productivity of high-skilled offices nearby, attracting more firms in this sector and raising the demand for non-tradable goods provided by local services.
"The Urban Wage Premium Over the Life Cycle and the Big-city Job Ladder"
Revise and Resubmit at Regional Science and Urban Economics
Available here
Abstract: I use Brazilian matched employer-employee data to study how city size impacts wage and job profiles, focusing on the influence on wage growth (dynamic effects). I show that dynamic effects fade with age and are concentrated on young college graduates, explaining about 30% of the observed city-size wage gap and 40% of the city-size college premium gap. In contrast, sorting on unobserved characteristics within education groups is of minor importance for understanding differences in wage levels and wage dynamics. I also study the relationship between dynamic effects and firm changes. I find that city size influences wage growth within and between firms, with the latter accounting for about 40% of the total effects experienced by young college graduates. Regarding this group, wage growth effects are stronger for multiple-firm career paths, and the quantity and quality of individuals pursuing these career paths increase with city size.
Selected Work in Progress
"Workplace and Spatial Frictions in Job Search"
Draft coming up soon
Abstract: This paper presents evidence of local spatial frictions in job search. Using matched employer-employee data with detailed address information of establishments, I explore the opening of large commercial buildings to investigate how proximity to vacancies affects the likelihood of getting a new job. I estimate the effects of slight variations in the distance across workplaces while controlling for worker and job characteristics to rule out sorting-based interpretations, particularly heterogeneous preferences for neighborhoods and spatial concentration of skills. I find that individuals within 500 meters of new construction are 2 to 2.4 more likely to work at the new building five years after its inauguration than individuals between 500 m and 1 km. This relationship is stronger for individuals with lower education and lower wages. I interpret the results as indicative of information frictions being at play. Some vacancies are more heavily advertised locally, benefiting those who move around the neighborhood regularly. Additionally, local networks may assist individuals in learning about these jobs or competing effectively for them.