Building evidence on new pathways for economic opportunity

Enrico Moretti on Tech Hubs

MIT’s Sloan School of Management recently highlighted a new working paper from Enrico Moretti and coauthors that examines the balance between local productivity and local costs in research and development, and finds that the productivity gains from a density of scientific talent generally outweigh the additional costs. Still, their findings suggest that cities with exceptionally high talent density have labor and real estate costs that dwarf gains. Learn more about the study.

Enrico Moretti on how costs affect living standards

A recent New York Times article explores how smaller towns and rural areas are seeing a new revival, as workers are enticed by lower costs of living. The piece mentions research from Enrico Moretti & Rebecca Diamond, which demonstrates significant differences in living standards based on geographic location, holding income constant. Read more here.

Enrico Moretti on the "Geography of Jobs"

A new piece in Forbes features Enrico Moretti’s research on the “geography of jobs” – in particular, how high rates of skilled labor inmigration and labor market clustering allow regions like Silicon Valley to continue growing in the face of high costs of living. Still, author Richard McGahey notes that this means low- and middle-income households struggle for a place in the housing market. Read more here.

Enrico Moretti on Remote Work and American Supercities

Enrico Moretti was recently interviewed in a Vox article on the future of American supercities post-pandemic. In the article, Moretti explains why people have historically tended to cluster geographically and why the benefits of agglomeration economies cannot fully be obtained from remote work.

Check out the full article here.