This paper examines the effects of county-level urbanization and natural amenities on subjective well-being (SWB) in the U.S. SWB is measured using individual-level data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) which asks respondents to rate their overall life satisfaction. Using individual-level SWB data allows us to control for several important individual characteristics. ...

We present theory and evidence highlighting the role of natural amenities in neighborhood dynamics, suburbanization, and variation across cities in the persistence of the spatial distribution of income. Our model generates three predictions that we confirm using a novel database of consistent-boundary neighborhoods in U.S. metropolitan areas, 1880–2010, and spatial data for natural features suc...

The lives of women change immediately after the death their husbands. After husbands, they experience extraordinary isolation which excludes them from important socioeconomic decisions. This paper discusses how widows are isolated and excluded in pertinent spheres decisions that impact negatively on including children low resourced communities Binga District Zimbabwe. Twenty-four were participa...

Using job satisfaction data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, I examine whether people who move to predominantly male jobs are fully compensated through their wages for their new jobs’ disamenities. Estimates from the ordered probit models indicate that women are satisfied with their pay in predominantly male jobs, but dislike the job amenities. In contrast, men appreciate both th...

Recent work has shown that in a labor market with search frictions and wage dispersion, the relationship between wages and amenities may be much di erent than in the classical compensating wage model. This paper generalizes their work, revealing the full range of potential relationships between wages and amenities possible in a labor market with frictions and clarifying the key role of the natu...

This paper examines how the college-educated population—segmented into selective demographic groups, from young adults to the elderly—differentially values quality-of-life (QOL) indicators of metropolitan areas in the United States. Using data from the 2000 Census and the 1997 Places Rated Almanac, out-migration patterns are shown to depend jointly upon stage in the life course, the spatial-dem...

It has long been recognized that average wages vary strikingly across regions and urban areas, in part due to differences in local amenities and fiscal policies. However, analogous differences in wage dispersion remain relatively unexplored. We develop a model suggesting that, after accounting for individual characteristics, wage dispersion across income groups should reflect differences in the...