Economy-Wide Spillovers from Booms: Long-Distance Commuting and the Spread of Wage Effects

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Labor Economics
Year: 2019
Volume: 37
Issue: S2
Pages: S643 - S687

Authors (4)

David A. Green (University of British Columbia) René Morissette (not in RePEc) Ben M. Sand (York University) Iain Snoddy (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Since 2000, US real average wages stagnated or declined while Canadian wages increased. We investigate the role of the Canadian resource boom in explaining this difference. We focus on wage spillovers to nonresource workers through a bargaining channel. We find that long-distance commuting to resource regions had substantial spillover effects on noncommuters in sending regions. Through spillovers, we account for 49% of the increase in the real mean wage in Canada between 2000 and 2012. We also find long-distance commuting effects in the United States. We conclude that long-distance commuting integrates regions, spreading benefits and costs of booms across the economy.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/703362
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-25