ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the role of human capital in explaining divergent employment growth within advanced economies. It adds a spatial dimension to William J. Baumol’s theory of ‘unbalanced growth’ by linking it with the concept of ‘job polarization’. We develop a theory of ‘geographical unbalanced growth’ that explains divergent employment trajectories in terms of skill restructuring. The theory is operationalized via a novel shift–share extension, which is applied to Australian data. We find evidence of ongoing regional divergence and for our proposed mechanism. The findings reinforce the importance of active policies to attract high-skilled jobs to non-metropolitan regions.

摘要

本文研究了人力资本在解释发达经济体不同的就业增长中的作用。通过将威廉·鲍莫尔的“不平衡增长”理论与“工作两极分化”的概念联系起来，它为威廉·鲍莫尔的“不平衡增长”理论增加了一个空间维度。我们提出了一种“地理不平衡增长”理论，该理论解释了技能重组方面不同的就业轨迹。该理论通过一种适用于澳大利亚数据的新型轮班份额扩展来实现。我们发现了持续存在区域分歧的证据以及我们提出的机制。调查结果强调了积极政策将高技能工作吸引到非大都市地区的重要性。