Kane, Kevin, John R. Hipp, and Jae Hong Kim. (2016). “Los Angeles employment concentration in the 21st century.” Urban Studies.
Abstract: “This paper is an empirical analysis of employment centers in the Los Angeles region from 1997-2014. Most extant work on employment centers focuses on identification methodology or their dynamics during a period of industrial restructuring from 1980-2000. This timely study examines hypotheses derived from more recent perspectives on urban concentration and dispersion including New Urbanism, Smart Growth, sustainable cities, and the recent Global Financial Crisis. We use point-based, rather than census tractbased employment data to analyze concentration across five key industries: knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), retail, creative, industrial, and high-tech, emphasizing changes in center composition and boundaries. While using point data necessitates slight changes to the nonparametric identification method typically used, results show far greater change across centers than previous longitudinal studies. Only 43% of the land area that is in an employment center is part of one in both 1997 and 2014. Using a persistence score, centers range from stable to highly fluctuating, but emerging, persisting, and dying centers are found in core and fringe areas alike. KIBS are most associated with stable centers, while high tech employment is attracted toward emerging areas and retail exists throughout. Emerging centers are more likely to have greater accessibility, while industrial employment becomes far more concentrated in centers by 2014.”