Regional divergence: why cities are growing faster than regions w/ Robert Sobyra | EP160

Why are cities growing faster than regional areas in many economies around the world, including in Australia, the US, and UK? Robert Sobyra of Construction Skills Queensland explains his recent research findings to show host Gene Tunny. Robert and Gene discuss what the predominance of high-skilled employment growth in cities means for regional economies, and whether policy measures to address the regional divergence would be desirable.Please get in touch with any questions, comments and suggestions by emailing us at [email protected] or sending a voice message via https://www.speakpipe.com/economicsexplored. Links relevant to the conversationRob’s LinkedIn profile:https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-sobyra/?originalSubdomain=auRob’s LinkedIn article “Why Regions Are Falling Behind – And What To Do About It”:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-regions-falling-behind-what-do-robert-sobyra/?trackingId=Dkp0A2saS8KUycrU1Q9IZw%3D%3DRob’s research paper:https://osf.io/2ywd8Data mentioned by Gene:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/trend-deck-2021-urbanisation/trend-deck-2021-urbanisationUrban population (% of total population) - United Stateshttps://population.un.org/wup/Publications/Files/WUP2018-Highlights.pdfBrookings' article about US regional divergence:https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/01/28/regional-divergence-is-more-than-an-economic-dilemma-its-a-civil-rights-issue/On agglomeration effects, please check out EP136:https://economicsexplored.com/2022/04/26/wider-economic-benefits-of-infrastructure-projects-ep136/ CreditsThanks to Josh Crotts for mixing the episode and to the show’s sponsor, Gene’s consultancy business www.adepteconomics.com.au. Please consider signing up to receive our email updates and to access our e-book Top Ten Insights from Economics at www.economicsexplored.com. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.