CEAS Investigator, Rodrigo Pérez, will publish a book chapter in conjunction with Mark D. Partridge and Sydney Schreiner from The Ohio State University, titled "Employment and wages in the places left behind". The book chapter will be embeded in the book called "Rural Families and Communities", to be published by Springer.

This book is part of annual series titled "Family Issues". More information on this series can be found here.

Abstract

In recent decades, labor force participation across the United States has declined. Yet, the reasons for the decline remain unclear. While some of the literature points to structural changes in the labor market composition as the driving factor, others argue that increases in the take-up of disability payments are to blame. Most existing studies document trends at the national level, and national performance is largely driven by labor market performance in major metropolitan areas. In this chapter, we analyze recent trends in the employment-to-population ratio and real wages, focusing instead on nonmetropolitan areas and in particular on the places left behind. Using data on working age individuals from the Current Population Survey (CPS) between 1980 and 2017, we explore heterogeneity in labor force participation across counties, education groups, genders, and industries of employment. We find that nonmetro areas have not recovered as quickly as metro areas have from the Great Recession. In particular, less-educated workers in nonmetro areas who are employed in the manufacturing sector have fared the worst in terms of real wages. Overall, our results suggest that the decline in labor force participation rates in rural areas can be explained by a relative reduction in productivity rather than changes in welfare take-up. Results highlight the importance of examining outcomes for heterogenous groups in order to craft policy to aid those who are struggling the most.