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Article Excerpt
Abstract
This paper investigates the relationships among county-level earnings, employment in creative occupations and the U.S. rural-urban wage gap. We find that the proportion of county-level employment in Florida's super-creative core has a positive effect on average earnings. However, much of this creativity earnings premium appears to be driven by technology-based segments of the super-creative core such as computer and mathematical, architecture and engineering, and scientific occupations. Differences in the proportions of creative workers between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties contribute 11.5 percent to the U.S. rural-urban wage gap.
Resume
Dans cet article, une analyse est presentee des rapports entre les revenus au niveau des comtes, l'emploi dans des occupations creatives et la disparite salariale entre milieu urbain et rural aux E.-U. Nous avons observe que la proportion de l'emploi au niveau des comtes dans le noyau super-creatif de Floride a un effet positif sur les salaries moyens. Toutefois, une partie importante de cette prime en termes de revenues semblent etre sous-tendue par les segments technologiques du noyau super-creatif, tells que les emplois dans les domaines de l'informatique et des mathematiques, de l'architecture et de l'ingenierie et de la science. Les differences dans les proportions des travailleurs cr6atifs entre les comtes metropolitains et non metropolitains comptent pour 11,5% de la disparite salariale entre les milieux urbain et rural aux E.-U.
Introduction
In his bestselling book The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida argues that the attraction of creative workers is a key contributor to regional economic development. One look at Table 1, reproduced from the book, is all the evidence that many people would need to agree. Members of Florida's "creative class" earned an average of $20,000 more per year than individuals in his working (e.g., production operations, transportation) and service (e.g., clerical workers) classes. These figures, and Florida's account of the impressive growth of creative workers in the United States, have regional policymakers searching for ways to attract and retain scientists, writers, engineers and artists--individuals who figure prominently in Florida's creative class. (1)
However, as noted by Florida (2002a: xiv), the growth of the creative economy may lead to "massive tensions and disruptions." A key challenge facing policymakers is the rising inequality in places with a high proportion of workers in the creative economy (Florida 2002a; Peck 2005). This is caused, in part, by the expansion of lower-paying service jobs fueled by the growing demands of creative workers. In addition, although Wojan (2006) and McGranahan and Wojan (forthcoming) have uncovered vibrant artistic and creative economies in some rural places, the creative economy tends to have its strongest roots in large cities. Thus, along with the growth in intra-regional inequality discussed by Florida (2002a) and Peck (2005), the expansion of the creative economy may also contribute to the wage gap between rural and urban areas.
This paper investigates the relationships among county-level earnings, employment in creative occupations and the U.S. rural-urban wage gap. Our empirical analysis, which uses data on a large sample of U.S, counties, centres around three interrelated topics of inquiry. First, we examine the extent to which the proportion of employment in Florida's "super-creative core" affects county-level earnings. (2) Second, given the diversity of occupations within the super-creative core, we narrow our focus to the relationship between county-level earnings and employment in individual segments of the creative economy. The purpose of this analysis is to determine whether the creative workforce earnings premium is mainly the result of a high proportion of employment in a few select occupations. Third, we use our results to examine how disparities in the relative size of the creative economy between metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties may be contributing to the U.S. rural-urban wage gap.
Literature Review
Much of the previous research conducted on the creative economy has focused on the regional growth and geographic distribution of artists and other creative workers. In a study on the location patterns of artists across U.S. states, Heilbrun (1996) found that artists became more geographically dispersed between 1980 and 1990, after a decade of increased concentration during the 1970s. Regression analysis shows that the amount of tourism activity per capita and the population size of the largest city located within the state have a positive effect on the relative number of performing artists. Alternatively, states with an ethnically-diverse and highly-educated population have a higher incidence of painters and sculptors (Heilbrun 1996).
Markusen and King (2003) found that artists have become more dispersed across large U.S. metropolitan areas, although certain cities appear to specialize in one or a few types of artists. Artists are characterized as "footloose" because they are not typically attracted to resources that are tied to a place, as is the case with some types of manufacturing firms. Results from a series of focus groups suggest that artists favor areas with high amenities, strong philanthropic and arts organizations, and public sector investments in programs and facilities (e.g., art fairs, parks and recreational spaces, concerts) that support the arts (Markusen and King 2003).
Florida's research on the creative economy, defined more broadly than the artistic workers studied by Heilbrun (1996) and Markusen and King (2003), generally focuses on cities. He suggests that members of the creative class are attracted to vibrant places and areas that offer a wide range of (urban) amenities and experiences. In addition, Florida (2002a) deemphasizes the importance of job opportunities as a location factor and, like Markusen and King (2003), points out that creative people select places where they want to live. Florida (2002b) found that a high concentration of bohemians, a subset of the creative class, is associated with high levels of human capital and high technology activity in large cities.
Other studies offer evidence that some rural areas may be attractive to artists and creative workers. Wojan (2006) found that the share of county-level employment in artistic occupations grew faster between 1990 and 2000 in non-metropolitan counties than in metropolitan areas. Logistic regression results suggest that, other things being equal, rural "artistic havens" tend to have a higher proportion of employment in business services, a higher number of entries in the National Register of Historic Places, fewer large retail establishments, a four-year college, an arts organization, and a higher share of employment in recreational industries (Wojan 2006).
McGranahan and Wojan (forthcoming) found that the share and growth of creative workers, broadly defined, raised overall employment growth in rural U.S. counties between 1990 and 2000. The analysis suggests that creative workers favor mountainous areas, and places with a mix of forests and open spaces. In addition, the number of jobs per capita in bicycle and sports stores, the proportion of county-level employment in both business services and recreation,...
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