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Texas economic activity expands modestly; labor market remains healthy
Texas economic activity expanded at a modest pace in April. While the manufacturing sector rebounded, the service sector slowed. Texas employment growth was moderate in the first quarter, slightly above the state’s roughly 2 percent long-run trend, and the unemployment rate held steady.
Working Paper
The Rising Value of Time and the Origin of Urban Gentrification
In recent decades, gentrification has transformed American central city neighborhoods. I estimate a spatial equilibrium model to show that the rising value of high-skilled workers? time contributes to the gentrification of American central cities. I show that the increasing value of time raises the cost of commuting and exogenously increases the demand for central locations by high-skilled workers. While change in the value of time has a modest direct effect on gentrification of central cities, the effect is substantially magnified by endogenous amenity improvement driven by the changes in ...
Journal Article
COVID-19 Fuels Sudden, Surging Demand for Suburban Housing
Business interruption and social distancing mandates because of COVID-19 have disrupted what had been a period of sustained growth within city centers nationally and in Texas. The pandemic-related actions have helped propel a sudden, large shift from renting to homeownership and a concurrent movement to the suburbs and larger homes.
Texas Economy Strongly Expands Despite Supply-Chain Disruptions, Hiring Challenges
There has been strong upward pressure on prices and wages, though there were some signs of abatement in July. The hot housing market continued to push up apartment rents, housing prices and construction.
Journal Article
Texas economy rides wave of changing technology and diffusion of know-how
Data on patents and employment show that Texas is a major center of innovation and high-tech employment.
Working Paper
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Demand for Density: Evidence from the U.S. Housing Market
Cities are shaped by the strength of agglomeration and dispersion forces. We show that the COVID-19 pandemic has re-introduced disease transmission as a dispersion force in modern cities. We use detailed housing data to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the location demand for housing. We find that the pandemic has led to a greater decline in the demand for housing in neighborhoods with high population density. We further show that the reduced demand for density is partially driven by the diminished need of living close to jobs that are telework-compatible and the declining value ...
Recent growth of professional services jobs favors select Texas counties
Professional services jobs have grown faster in Texas than in the U.S. since 2020, partly because of business relocations to the state. This expansion has been highly geographically clustered, with 10 of Texas’ 254 counties accounting for more than 92 percent of the statewide growth.
Working Paper
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Demand for Density: Evidence from the U.S. Housing Market
Cities are shaped by the strength of agglomeration and dispersion forces. We show that the COVID-19 pandemic has re-introduced disease transmission as a dispersion force in modern cities. We use detailed housing data to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the location demand for housing. We find that the pandemic has led to a reduced demand for housing in neighborhoods with high population density. The reduced demand for density is driven partially by the diminished need of living close to jobs that are telework-compatible and the declining value of access to consumption amenities. ...
Journal Article
Go Figure: Women Took Brunt of Pandemic Job Loss as Priorities Shifted to Home
Working women fared worse than men in the pandemic—a reversal from the Great Recession
Journal Article
Gentrification Transforming Neighborhoods in Big Texas Cities
As an influx of new, affluent residents has descended on gentrifying neighborhoods around the centers of Texas’ four largest cities, neighborhood amenities have improved. Meanwhile, increasing housing costs have led some low-income households and at-risk populations to locate in more suburban areas.