Sectoral Sources of the Massachusetts Miracle and Other Turning Points

Previous analyses of the Massachusetts Miracle and the subsequent evolution of employment in the area have centered in part on sectoral explanations. In this paper these explanations are evaluated with the use of a sectoral-based VAR model of the Boston economy, developed to identify local and national sectoral shocks. The relative importance of these shocks is estimated both for the overall sample and at several turning points in aggregate Boston employment, the latter using historical decompostions.     

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Local Land Use Allocation Decisions

This paper presents standard microeconomic models that are designed to be used in the cost-benefit analysis of local land use decisions. The models connect these allocation decisions to outcomes in the urban land and labor markets so that costs and benefits can be measured. Benefits to the local jurisdiction of allocating land to industrial use exist if unemployed workers are employed, land values increase, or local tax revenues increase beyond the amount needed to provide the additional public services required.     

Reassessing the Developmental and Chronological Relationships of the Formative of Coastal Ecuador

The Ecuadorian Formative was initially interpreted as a result of long-distance diffusion, and migration, more recent research has changed our perception of the Valdivia, Machalilla, and Chorrera culture complexes. In this analysis, these archaeological investigations are reassessed in order to reevaluate our understanding regarding the nature of these prehistoric cultures. Formative chronologies, distributions, interrelationships are reviewed in the light of Pre-Hispanic occupations in El Oro Province. Previous investigations on the Ecuadorian littoral are examined. Results indicate (1) Valdivia and Machalilla are part of the same ceramic tradition and (2) the interrelationships of these complexes to Late Formative Period ceramic sequences are more complex than previously assumed. (3) A major adaptive shift related to an increased dependence upon agriculture occurred during Valdivia VI–VIII, and continued into the Late Formative with the widespread distribution of Chorrera related material culture. (4) Long-distance interaction with the Ecuadorian highlands resulted in the spread of what may be termed a Chorrera horizon and formed the basis of subsequent Andean cosmology where it was symbolically represented according to local and regional artistic canons and over a vast area of Andean South America.     

Consumer city

Urban economics has traditionally viewed cities as having advantagesin production and disadvantages in consumption. We argue thatthe role of urban density in facilitating consumption is extremelyimportant and understudied. As firms become more mobile, thesuccess of cities hinges more and more on cities' role as centresof consumption. Empirically, we find that high amenity citieshave grown faster than low amenity cities. Urban rents havegone up faster than urban wages, suggesting that the demandfor living in cities has risen for reasons beyond rising wages.The rise of reverse commuting suggests the same consumer cityphenomena.l