The spatial concentration of high-skilled workers and city productivity: the case of Latin America

1 Dec 2021 | Publication

The spatial concentration of high-skilled workers and city productivity: the case of Latin America

  • Publication type: CEPAL Review
  • Author: Vargas, Miguel; Garrido, Nicolás
  • Physical description: páginas. 177-20
  • UN symbol (Signature): LC/PUB.2022/3-P
  • Date: 1 December 2021
View full record in repository

Abstract

The aim of this study is to cast light on the relationship between the spatial concentration of high-skilled workers and the productivity of cities in Latin America. The relationship is not clear at first sight. On the one hand, the segregation of high-skilled workers should create agglomeration economies and give rise to positive spillovers amongst the most advantaged, offsetting productivity losses that result from the existence of ghettos of low-skilled workers. On the other hand, it may well be that these spillovers are not enough to compensate for the loss of productivity in the worse-off groups, so that aggregate productivity is negatively affected. We analysed this segregation for a group of Latin America’s largest cities and found a negative and significant relationship between the productivity of cities and the segregation of high-skilled workers. However, we also found evidence of a quadratic relationship between segregation and productivity.