Returns vs. Endowments in the Earnings Attainment Process for Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Men and Women1

Abstract Three explanations typically are offered for differences in earnings: (1) individuals have different levels of human capital and hold different jobs (endowments differ), (2) rewards to human capital and job characteristics differ (returns differ), and (3) some combination of differences in endowments and returns explain variations in earnings. We argue that the structure of labor markets in nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas differs from that in metropolitan (metro) areas such that returns, as well as endowments, vary. These variations in returns favor metropolitan workers, explaining the predominant portion of the metro/nonmetro earnings gap. We examine the earnings differences for metro and nonmetro men and women in both 1977 and 1987, showing that returns outweigh endowments in explaining that gap for both men and women, although their importance decreases over the ten-year period. Research to improve our understanding of how differences in labor market structure produce differential returns has begun and may yield yet another avenue for action for policymakers interested in reducing metro/nonmetro inequalities.     

Changing Economic Opportunities,Family Structure,and Poverty in Rural Areas1

Abstract Instrustrial restructuring in the 1980s ushered in a new pattern of growing economic diversity over geographic space. The objective of this study is to examine the extent and etiology of changing spatial inequality between and within metropolitan (metro) and nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas, as measured by increasing or decreasing county poverty rates. Results based on data from the 1980 and 1990 census summary tape files suggest several conclusions. First, poverty rates increased more rapidly in nonmetro than metro counties during the 1980s; historical patterns of metro-nonmetro economic convergence slowed over the past decade. Second, poverty rates tended to decline in nonmetro counties with traditionally high rates of poverty, thus providing counter-evidence to arguments suggesting that the gap between traditionally poor and nonpoor nonmetro counties has widened. Third, spatial differences in poverty rates and relative increases in county poverty rates over the 1980s were most strongly associated with women's employment and headship status. The results raise questions about the extent to which traditional rural economic development strategies address the potentially deleterious economic effects of rising percentages of poor female-headed families.     

Nonmetropolitan Poor Children and Reliance on Public Assistance1

Abstract This research documents trends from 1970 through 1990 in the utilization and ameliorative effects of public assistance among poor children in nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) and metropolitan (metro) America. Results indicate that the families of nonmetro poor children rely more heavily on parental earnings and less so on public assistance when compared to their metro counterparts; that there was a sharp rise over the period in reliance on public assistance, especially among nonmetro children, and a corresponding decline in reliance on earnings; that the ability of public assistance to ameliorate child poverty is modest; and that while the ameliorative effects are always greater in metro than nonmetro areas, this disparity declined over the 1980s owing partially to improvement in nonmetro areas.     

Nonmetropolitan Population Change in the Mountain West: 1970–1995

Abstract Current research on nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) population change shows that, to date, the 1990s are reminiscent of the 1970s rather than the 1980s. Nonmetro areas, including the Mountain West, are again gaining population through increases in net migration. Over the past several years, subareas within the Mountain West have experienced some of the fastest rates of population growth and economic expansion in the United States. Current growth patterns in the Mountain West are distinct from those in both the 1970s “rural renaissance” and the 1980s “nonmetro contraction” periods. Nonmetro counties in the Mountain West are growing at about the same rate as metropolitan (metro) counties, and although the growth rate is slower now than in the 1970s, more counties are participating in the growth. These findings support earlier research suggesting that nonmetro growth may not be ending.     

Crime in Nonmetropolitan America: A National Accounting of Trends,Incidence Rates,and Idiosyncratic Vulnerabilities1

Abstract The prevalence and nature of crime in rural America have been given relatively little research attention. An overview of the trends, incidence rates, and particular vulnerabilities nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) residents have to criminal victimization compared with their metropolitan (metro) counterparts are provided through data from the National Crime Victimization Survey. Results indicate that victimization rates for all locations generally have been declining since the peak rates witnessed in the mid- 1970s, with residents of metro central cities being the most susceptible to victimization, followed by other metro and nonmetro residents, respectively. Certain subgroups of nonmetro residents, however, are as susceptible as their counterparts in metro areas who reside outside central cities to particular types of victimization. Implications for policy are discussed.     

Race,Residence, and Underemployment: Fifty Years in Comparative Perspective, 1968–2017

High underemployment has been a chronic structural feature of the rural United States for decades. In this paper, we assess whether and how inequalities in underemployment between metropolitan (metro) and nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas have changed over the course of the last five decades. Drawing on data from the March Current Population Survey from 1968 to 2017, we analyze inequality in the prevalence of underemployment between metro and nonmetro areas of the United States, paying special attention to differences between white, black, and Hispanic workers. Our results show that the underlying risk of underemployment has increased in both metro and nonmetro areas over the last 50 years. Nonmetro workers have consistently faced greater employment hardship compared to their metro counterparts, and these differences cannot be fully explained by differences in population characteristics. Nonmetro ethnoracial minorities have experienced particularly poor labor market outcomes. The disadvantage of ethnoracial minority status and rural residence is especially pronounced for nonmetro black workers, among whom underemployment has remained persistently high with only modest convergence with other workers. Hispanic workers also face an elevated risk of underemployment, but we observe a unique convergence between metro and nonmetro workers within this population.     

Recent Changes in Metropolitan-Nonmetropolitan Migration Streams1

Abstract In this paper, we examine the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of migration streams between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas for four different years over the period 1975–1993. During this period, there have been three shifts in the direction of net metro-nonmetro migration. Through nonmetro net in-migration, the “nonmetropolitan turnaround” of the 1970s reversed historical patterns of nonmetro loss of human resources, with gains and increased retention of the young and better-educated. The 1980s, however, again saw net-migration loss, including large shifts from gain to loss, especially among the young and better-educated and for workers in white collar occupations. In the 1990s, the overall pattern is again one of nonmetro net-migration gain or reduced loss, with the greatest increases among those higher status groups which experienced the greatest declines during the 1980s. The latest pattern is due largely to increased population retention, whereas previous research has shown the migration turnaround of the 1970s was due about equally to increasing retention and in-migration.     

Becoming Poor: The Experiences of Elders1

Elderly Americans residing in nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas have higher poverty prevalence than their metropolitan (metro) counterparts. Data from both the response and nonresponse files of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1988 wave) are analyzed to establish the extent to which this disadvantage also occurs in the length of poverty spells and the risk of becoming poor at older ages. Specifically, for individuals aged 55 and older Kaplan-Meier survival functions and multivariate discrete-time hazards models are estimated to document residential differences in the poverty risks of metro and nonmetro men and women. Nonpoor nonmetro elders are much more likely to become poor than metro elders. These results hold when controlling for race, education, marital status, age, change in work effort, becoming widowed, and types of income received.     

Metro/Nonmetro Residence,Nonmarital Conception,and Conception Outcomes*

Abstract Two of the most significant changes affecting U.S. society during the 20th century were transformations in family structure and the transition from a nonmetropolitan/farm society to a largely metropolitan society. In this study, classic sociological theory, developed to understand differences between metro and nonmetro society, was employed. Despite contentions that the residence variable is no longer viable, we hypothesized that nonmetro interaction patterns would result in nonmetro residents making more traditional and conservative choices relative to family formation. Analysis of data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth provided support for these contentions. Nonmetropolitan women were significantly more likely than metropolitan women to be married at the time of conception. Further, when comparing women who were not married at conception, nonmetro women were significantly more likely than metro women to get married prior to the birth of the child, and were significantly more likely to have the pregnancy result in a live birth.     

Poverty,Welfare, and the Livelihood Strategies of Nonmetropolitan Single Mothers*

Abstract Using the National Survey of Family Growth, we document nonmetropolitan and metropolitan single mothers' economic livelihood strategies. We have three objectives: (1) examine differences in employment, cohabitation, co‐residence with other adults, and welfare receipt; (2) evaluate how these livelihood strategies are associated with economic well‐being; and (3) identify key metro‐nonmetro differences in the effectiveness of these livelihood strategies in improving the economic well‐being of single mothers. We find surprisingly similar livelihood strategies in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas. Employment, cohabitation, and co‐residence are strongly associated with economic well‐being. However, nonmetro single mothers are less likely than metropolitan mothers to benefit economically from full‐time employment. Given our results, “work‐first” policies are likely to be less efficacious in nonmetropolitan areas. Indeed, nonmetropolitan single mothers are often “triply disadvantaged” compared to their metro counterparts; they experience higher rates of poverty, higher barriers to welfare receipt, and lower economic returns from other livelihood strategies.     

The Recent Revival of Widespread Population Growth in Nonmetropolitan Areas of the United States1

Abstract Population growth was widespread in nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas of the United States during the early 1990s. More than 64 percent of the 2,277 nonmetro counties gained population between 1990 and 1992, compared with only 45 percent in the 1980s. The nonmetro population still grew at a slower pace than did the metropolitan population, but the gap was much narrower than during the 1980s. Net migration gains accounted for 43 percent of the total estimated nonmetro population increase of 879,000 between 1990 and 1992. These findings suggest it is premature to conclude that the renewed population growth in nonmetro areas first noted in the 1970s has ended.     

Nonmetropolitan Residential Segregation Revisited

Abstract Nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) residential segregation in 1990 and change in the preceding decade have received insufficient attention. A set of empirical hypotheses are derived and assessed using nonmetro and metropolitan (metro) counties in Texas. Places in nonmetro counties were more segregated than places in metro counties in 1990 as in 1980. Substantial declines in segregation occurred in both nonmetro and metro places but were largest in growing places in nonmetro counties. An analysis controlling for other determinants of segregation supports the premise that population change was a major determinant of 1980–1990 change in segregation. Implications for nonmetro areas in the 1990s are discussed.     

Working Poverty across the Metro‐Nonmetro Divide: A Quarter Century in Perspective, 1979–2003

Researchers are increasingly recognizing space as a key axis of inequality. Scholars concerned with spatial inequality have called for special attention to issues of comparative advantage and disadvantage across space as well as the consideration of the subnational scale. This study draws on these ideas by examining the relationship between work and poverty in the United States with an explicit comparative focus on metropolitan (metro) and nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas. Moreover, this study joins space with its counterpart time by exploring how this relationship has changed over the last quarter century. Using data from the March Current Population Survey, the results show that working poverty persistently had a disproportionate impact on nonmetro families between 1979 and 2003. However, the results also show a trend of residential convergence, as working poverty in metro areas has climbed toward the levels experienced in nonmetro areas. Logistic‐regression models exploring the effects of residence, family labor supply, and period confirm that labor supply has consistently provided nonmetro families with less protection from poverty than their metro counterparts, but also show that this disadvantage has waned in recent years. The findings underscore the need for policies that support those working on the economic margins and recognize the variable opportunity costs of employment across the rural‐urban continuum.     

Residence and Income Inequality: Effects on Mortality Among U.S. Counties

Abstract Despite lower average incomes, greater percentages living in poverty, lower levels of health insurance, less preventive health care, and poorer health status, nonmetropolitan residents have been found to experience lower mortality than their metropolitan counterparts. Several pathways through which residence influences mortality have been proposed. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of income inequality on residential differentials in mortality. Using data from the Compressed Mortality File for counties in the coterminous United States for 1990, we estimate weighted least squares models of total mortality for 3,067 counties, and separately for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties. Mortality is lower in nonmetropolitan counties than in metropolitan counties, once rates are standardized for age, sex, and race. Moreover, income inequality exerts stronger effects in nonmetro counties, an effect that persists when per capita income, median household size, and racial composition are controlled. The percentage of the population that is black exerts an independent effect on mortality in both metro and non‐metro counties.     

Earnings Inequality in the Nonmetropolitan United States: 1967–19901

Abstract Nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) inequality patterns are contrasted with those of metropolitan (metro) areas to assess the utility of neoclassical and restructuring theoretical frameworks. Inequality measures are constructed from March Current Population Surveys for the years 1968–1991. Results indicate that inequality is greater in nonmetro areas than in metro areas. Results of decomposition procedures suggest that the observed inequality is due to a mix of neoclassical and restructuring factors that account for more inequality in metro than nonmetro areas. National policies must take account of metro/nonmetro differences in patterns and sources of inequality.     

The Effects of Metropolitan Residence on the Off-Farm Earnings of Farm Families in the United States1

Abstract Previous research on the effects of urbanization on farming and farm families has focused on the consequences of urban expansion on farming practice rather than on the well-being of farm families. Proximity to urban areas has been found to alter the way farm families utilize the nonfarm labor market. In this study, the off-farm earnings of husbands and wives in farm families are compared across metropolitan (metro) and nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) areas using data from the March supplement to the 1989 Current Population Survey. Censored regression models (tobit) and decomposition are used to demonstrate the effects of nonfarm labor market differences on off-farm labor force participation and earnings. The analysis reveals that farm family members, as expected, have significantly higher rates of participation and earnings in metropolitan areas. But this analysis also reveals that increases in off-farm participation are likely to have a larger effect on total off-farm earnings in nonmetropolitan areas than returns to those already working off-farm. The potential for increases in off-farm earnings will be underestimated in nonmetro areas when changes in participation in the off-farm labor market are not taken into account.     

Socioeconomic Performance in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas during the 1980s

The socioeconomic gap between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas increased during the 1980s. We test three competing explanations for this trend during the 1980s: overdependence on manufacturing, especially in nonmetro labor markets, the emergence of producer services as a catalyst of socioeconomic growth, and federal spending. Using a model that is informed by a variety of perspectives in sociology and economic geography, and commuter zones (CZs) as spatial units of analysis, we estimate the effects of manufacturing concentration, producer service concentration, and federal spending on per capita income, per capita earnings, and private nonfarm employment growth during the 1983–1988 business cycle recovery. The OLS and interaction models show that all three factors help explain why metro areas outperformed nonmetro areas during this time period. The effects of producer service concentration, however, best fit with our expectations. Implications of our findings are discussed.     

POVERTY,PRICES, AND PLACE: HOW SENSITIVE IS THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF POVERTY TO COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENTS?

This article examines how accounting for cost-of-living differences across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas affects measured rates of poverty. The spatial price index used is based on the Fair Market Rent data and was developed by the Census Bureau for use in its experimental poverty research program. Following U.S. federal definitions, poverty in nonmetro areas has been consistently higher than it has been in metro areas. Using the Fair Market Rent index to adjust for differences in cost of living results in a complete reversal of nonmetro-metro rankings in terms of prevalence, depth, and severity of poverty for every year examined (1991 to 2002). (JEL I32 , R1 , C81 )     

Changing Income Inequality in Nonmetropolitan Counties, 1980 to 1990*

Abstract Income inequality has been increasing across the United States, but little is known about changing income inequality in nonmetropolitan counties. Data from the 1980 and 1990 Summary Tape Files of the U.S. Census of Population and Housing are used to estimate ordinary least squares models of change in income inequality. Household income inequality increased in a smaller share of nonmetro than metro counties from 1980 to 1990, and increases in income inequality were influenced more strongly by economic restructuring in nonmetro than in metro counties. Other factors, such as change in household structure, demographic composition, and labor supply and job quality, were generally similar in affecting income inequality in nonmetro and metro counties. The greater importance of economic restructuring in nonmetro counties indicates the lesser diversity and smaller size of local economies, and their greater vulnerability to forces of economic restructuring.     

Migration of Retirement‐Age Blacks to Nonmetropolitan Areas in the 1990s

Older blacks migrated to nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) communities in the 1990s to a degree not true of the past. Some of the nonmetro counties that attracted them are well‐known retirement areas also favored by other retirees, mostly whites. Two‐thirds of black retirement counties, however, are areas in the Old South that are not attracting other retirees at a substantial rate, if at all. Although the data indicate significant rates of retirement‐age blacks migrating to 85 nonmetro counties, most migration by older blacks is to metro destinations.