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The Effects of Workforce Creativity on Earnings in U.S. Counties

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Todd M. Gabe ,
Kristen Colby  and
Kathleen P. Bell
Todd M. Gabe
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine
Kristen Colby
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine
Kathleen P. Bell
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine
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Abstract

This paper examines the effects of local workforce creativity on county-level earnings. Descriptive analysis of the data shows that most of the high-creativity counties in the United States are part of metropolitan areas, and that employee earnings are high in these places. Regression results indicate that, other things being equal, workforce creativity enhances county-level labor earnings. However, the returns to creativity that we found can be confirmed only in the urban context. An extension of the analysis suggests that the creative workforce wage premium may be capturing the effects of “technical workforce creativity” on earnings.

Keywords

creative economywageseconomic development

Information

Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , April 2007 , pp. 71 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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