Honors Theses

Advisor

Nancy Haskell

Department

Economics

Publication Date

4-1-2022

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Abstract

This thesis focuses on whether or not the diversity in industries within a county has an impact on the income mobility of children within that county. Data come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to construct variables measuring job diversity and the degree of industry specialization of a county. Building on Chetty (2017a, 2017b), I find that for children with parents at the 25th percentile of the national income distribution, a one standard deviation increase in a county being less diverse in the presence of industries increases a child’s expected rank in the national income distribution by 2.19% while a one standard deviation increase in specialization in the manufacturing industry increases a child’s expected rank in the national income distribution by 1.69%, with larger effects on males. These findings have implications for helping citizens decide which areas are best suited for themselves and their family to ensure a better life for their offspring as well as understanding how public policy can be altered to target areas which may be over- concentrated (I find evidence of diminishing returns) or lacking concentration in industries to maximize the income mobility of children within the United States.

Permission Statement

This item is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and may only be used for noncommercial, educational, and scholarly purposes.

Keywords

Undergraduate research

Disciplines

Economics

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Included in

Economics Commons

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