Shared Knowledge and the Coagglomeration of Occupations

Gabe T. M. and Abel J. R. Shared knowledge and the coagglomeration of occupations, Regional Studies. This paper examines the extent to which people in different occupations locate near one another, or coagglomerate. Ellison–Glaeser coagglomeration indices are constructed for US occupations and used to investigate factors influencing the geographic concentration of economic activity. Empirical results reveal that occupations with similar knowledge requirements tend to coagglomerate, and the importance of shared knowledge is larger in metropolitan areas than in states. An extension to the main analysis finds that, when focusing on metropolitan areas, the largest effects on coagglomeration are due to shared knowledge about engineering and technology, arts and humanities, manufacturing and production, and mathematics and science.