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Competitiveness of Ethnic Minority
Neighborhoods in Metropolitan Areas
in the Seventh District
by Maude Toussaint-Comeau
The Seventh District of the Federal Reserve is home
to many ethnic/racial communities with mixed
socio-economic and demographic characteristics,
including several traditionally vibrant middle-class,
predominantly black neighborhoods such as Greater
Chatham, and Hispanic neighborhoods like Little
Village.1 Many of these communities felt the most
damaging impacts of the 2007-2009 housing market
crash and financial crisis. Changing demographics,
the outmigration of working-age residents, and
crime rates, which tend to be exacerbated in areas of
concentrated poverty, have created further challenges
in some of these places. As a result, employment and
competitiveness (among various industries) in some
of these neighborhoods have lagged behind their
region. As of 2015 data, unemployment in states in
the district remains fairly high for blacks, for example,
compared to the nationwide average (map 1).
This article examines employment change in ethnic
minority neighborhoods and the extent to which
these places are integrated in their region’s economy,
and explores the different factors associated with this
integration. Indeed previous researchers have analyzed
job competitiveness in local areas and have provided
insights behind factors that contribute to increasing
jobs in these places. Such places are in proximity to
cities with strong local and traded clusters, including
large clusters of employer anchor institutions such
as universities and hospitals (e.g., Porter, 1995;
Mattoon and Wang, 2014). They have increased
accessibility to cities with increased population
with more human capital. In addition, places
that are targeted by special public policies and
initiatives, such as being designated empowerment
and economic recovery zones, tend to have faster
job growth (e.g., Hartley, Kaza, and Lester, 2016).
Research also suggests that the financial market and

access to banking services and credit can play a role
in the well-being of local areas (Metzger, 2011; Bates
and Ross, 2016). Based on previous studies, overall,
neighborhoods in growing metropolitan areas tend
to also grow; metro areas do best when growth and
benefits cross socioeconomic boundaries.2
This article offers a case study of neighborhoods in
the Fed’s Seventh District, building on previous
research that explores factors associated with creating
or sustaining employment growth in local areas.
We find a number of interesting results that seem
to characterize neighborhoods that experience job
growth and are competitive within their regions.
These neighborhoods tend to be in metropolitan areas
that also experience overall job growth; there seems to
be less disparity in employment gains across diverse
neighborhoods in growing metropolitan areas;
expanding metropolitan areas have a wider range of
mixed industries, and diverse neighborhoods benefit
with employment gains in those growing industries.
In addition, we analyze the association between
various factors and job growth, and find results
consistent with expectations. We find that faster
employment growth tends to happen in places that
have greater industry diversity, redevelopment,
and increased population. We also find that placebased public policies like the Low Income Housing
Tax Credit (LIHTC) are associated with faster
local employment growth. Finally, we analyze how
different ethnic/racial communities kept up with
employment expansion post the 2008 recession,
during the economic recovery period, and the factors
that played a role. And, for these communities, we
find that the overall health of the region and financial
service factors and credit (available) to businesses
were even more important during this period.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 4—

Map 1. Unemployment rate of blacks in the United States and states in the Seventh District, 2015

12.0 - 14.8
10.0 - 12.0
8.0 - 10.0
6.0 - 8.0
4.0 - 6.0
No data
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Note: States in the Federal Reserve Seventh District outlined in blue.

Data sources and methodology

the nature of job/industry competitiveness for
given neighborhoods.

We primarily use data from the U.S. Census
Bureau’s Longitudinal Employment and Household
Dynamics (LEHD) data set. Specifically, we use
special tabulations of the LEHD data created for
local transportation and workforce development
analysis called the LODES program, from 2002
to 2014 (the latest year available). The data set is
available at a 2010 block-group-level geography. We
aggregate total employment and employment by
broad industry sector to a tract level (2010 census
tract boundaries) for the purpose of this analysis. The
LODES data are also available on a worker residence
basis and on workplace basis. We use the latter counts
of employment, as we are primarily interested in
the changing geography of employment between
neighborhoods (and related, contributing factors).3

For this place-based analysis, we identify selected
major metropolitan areas known as “core-base
statistical areas” (CBSAs) in the Seventh District.
These include Chicago; Indianapolis; Milwaukee,
Cedar Rapids, and Waterloo in Wisconsin; Detroit
and Flint in Michigan; and Des Moines. Within
these metropolitan areas, we identify census tracts
(our proxy for neighborhoods) for analysis purposes.
Using population and racial/ethnicity of the census
tracts from ACS data (2015), we compute the ethnic/
racial plurality of the census tract. Both the LODES
and this additional data source allow us to measure
competitiveness of neighborhoods of different ethnic/
racial plurality relative to each other and relative to
their respective metropolitan areas.

We use this LODES data to measure competitiveness
of neighborhoods. Consistent with the literature, we
define “competitiveness” based on the job growth
of the census tract relative to the job growth in its
metropolitan area. Census tracts that have increased
their share of jobs are considered competitive (Hartley,
Kaza, and Lester, 2016). We conduct this analysis at
both the aggregate and industry levels to understand

From the ACS data, we also identify various other
characteristics related to the labor market and
socioeconomic conditions of the census tracts.
These include the labor force participation,
unemployment rate, and poverty rate. In addition, we
use archived data from the EPA to measure various
environmental or spatial accessibility factors in the
census tracts, including access to public transit,
overall transportation networks, and proximity to

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 5—

central business districts. We use data from HUD
to ascertain the relationship of place-based policies
in census tracts, such as LIHTCs and empowerment
and economic zone designation, and subsequent
employment growth and competitiveness. To
measure financial services, we use bank branch
addresses (which we geocode to census tracts) and
deposits in bank branches in the census tract. These
data are from the FDIC Summary of Deposits. Data
for credit flows to businesses are from and the FFIEC,
CRA small business data.

Chart 1. Labor market indicators in 7th District by
ethnic/racial neighborhoods
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%

Labor market challenges

20%

Charts 1 and 2 show various labor market indicators
in neighborhoods in the Seventh District as a whole,
and by major metropolitan areas, respectively.4
These 2011-2015 ACS estimates suggest that black
neighborhoods had lower labor force participation rate
on average than non-Hispanic white neighborhoods
and Hispanic neighborhoods.5 Unemployment rate
in black neighborhoods was more than 20 percent,
twice the rate in other places (chart 1).

10%
0
Asian

Black

Labor force participation

Hispanic Non-Hispanic
or Latino
white
Unemployment rate

Source: American Community Survey, 2011-2015,
5-Year estimates

Chart 2. Labor market indicator in states in the 7th District by ethnic/racial neighborhoods
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 6—

Detroit and Flint

Black

Source: American Community Survey, 2011-2015, 5-Year estimates

Non-Hispanic
White

Unemployment rate

Hispanic

Des Moines

Black

Asian

Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

Indianapolis

Black

Non-Hispanic
White

Labor force participation

Hispanic

Chicago

Black

Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

Black

Asian

0%

Milwaukee

Chart 2 shows differences in the unemployment
rate of different ethnic/racial neighborhoods, by
the selected metropolitan areas in the district.
Detroit and Flint, followed by Chicago, have the
highest unemployment in their respective black
communities overall, at 25 percent and 22 percent.
The unemployment rate in Hispanic communities
in those metropolitan areas in Michigan is also
elevated, at 20 percent. In Des Moines, Milwaukee,
and Indianapolis, the unemployment rate is just
under 20 percent, representing almost three times the
rate for non-Hispanic white neighborhoods in those
metropolitan areas.

Relatedly, there is a stark difference in the poverty
rate across neighborhoods. More than 25 percent of
households in black neighborhoods in Chicago live in
poverty, and more than 30 percent of households in
black neighborhoods in Detroit live in poverty. High
rates of unemployment are also seen for Hispanic
neighborhoods, particularly in Detroit and in
Milwaukee (chart 4).

Job growth across neighborhoods
Communities and neighborhoods are obviously part
of a broader regional context, and to understand their
prospect for expanding, we need to understand their
region. We first take a look at job growth and income
growth in those selected metropolitan areas in the
district (chart 5). Employment declined in Detroit
and Flint from 2002 to 2011, although interestingly
they experienced some increases in income growth.6
By contrast, both jobs and income grew in Chicago,
Indianapolis and Milwaukee. Des Moines had the
highest growth in jobs and income. Chicago, and
Milwaukee both had relatively moderate job growth
and a relatively faster income growth. Changes in jobs
and income were somewhat similar in range between
9 percent and 10 percent for Indianapolis.

Lower labor force participation and higher
unemployment in ethnic minority communities in
metropolitan areas throughout the Seventh District
translate into households having lower incomes
in those communities. The median income in
predominantly black neighborhoods is less than
half that in predominantly non-Hispanic white
neighborhoods in most of the metropolitan areas
being considered. In Chicago, black communities on
average have income one-third that of non-Hispanic
white neighborhoods (chart 3).

Chart 3. Household median income across ethnic/racial neighborhoods in metropolitan areas
in the 7th District
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

Detroit and Flint

Black

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 7—

Non-Hispanic
White

Source: American Community Survey, 2011-2015, 5-Year estimates

Hispanic

Des Moines

Black

Asian

Non-Hispanic
White

Indianapolis

Hispanic

Black

Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

Black

Chicago

Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

Black

Asian

0

Milwaukee

Chart 4. Household poverty rate across ethnic/racial neighborhoods in metropolitan areas
in the 7th District
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

Detroit and Flint

Black

Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

Des Moines

Black

Asian

Non-Hispanic
White

Indianapolis

Hispanic

Black

Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

Chicago

Black

Non-Hispanic
White

Hispanic

Black

Asian

0

Milwaukee

Source: American Community Survey, 2011-2015, 5-Year estimates

Chart 5. Job growth and household income growth (2002-2011) in selected metropolitan areas
in the 7th District
25%
20%

Chicago

Indianapolis

Des Moines

Detroit

15%
10%
5%
0%
-5%
-10%
-15%
-20%

Income growth rate

Job growth rate

Source: American Community Survey, 2011-2015, 5-Year estimates,
Local Origin Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), 2002, 2011

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
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Flint

Milwaukee

We looked at the data by the ethnic/racial plurality
of the neighborhoods and determined the extent to
which neighborhoods, based on this characteristic,
had job increases or decreases, as a share of jobs in
their respective metropolitan areas (chart 6). Between
2002 and 2011, 29 percent of all neighborhoods
had increased their share of employment in their
metropolitan areas in the Seventh District. Close
to 25 percent of black neighborhoods grew their
share of employment. Thirty-six percent of Hispanic
neighborhoods increased their share of employment.
By contrast, 30 percent of non-Hispanic white
neighborhoods increased their share of employment.

areas with slower or declining job growth overall
(Detroit, Flint). In Chicago, 41 percent of
neighborhoods with a black plurality population have
had job increasing as a share of all jobs in the Chicago
metro. The corresponding percentage for non-black
plurality census tracts is 46 percent, a 5 percentage
point difference. By contrast in Detroit, 28 percent of
its black neighborhoods had job increases as a share
of jobs in that metropolitan area. The corresponding
percentage for non-black plurality tracts in Detroit
is 60 percent, which is more than a 50 percentage
point higher. Similar differences can be seen in Flint,
another metro that experience overall job declines.

Chart 6. Percent and number of census tracts
with increased/decreased share of employment
by ethnic/racial plurality of neighborhoods in
the Seventh District

Chart 7. Percent and number of census tracts with
increases in share of jobs by ethnic/racial plurality
of the tracts in the metropolitan areas
500

80%

100%
400

60%

80%
300

60%

40%
200

40%

0%

20%

100

20%

Black

Hispanic

Non-Hispanic
White

Seventh
District
Selected Metros

Increases in employment share
Decreases in employment share or no change
Source: American Community Survey, 2011-2015, 5-Year
estimates, Local Origin Destination Employment Statistics
(LODES), 2002, 2011

Looking at similar information by the metropolitan
areas (chart 7), the results suggest that faster
growing metropolitan areas (Chicago, Indianapolis,
Milwaukee) have job growth rates which are
more closely similar across various ethnic/racial
neighborhoods on average, compared to metropolitan

0

Chicago Indianapolis Detroit

Flint

Milwaukee

0%

Black neighborhoods (number of census tracts)
Percent black neighborhoods that are competitive
Percent non-black neighborhoods that are competitive
Source: American Community Survey, 2011-2015, 5-Year
estimates, Local Origin Destination Employment Statistics
(LODES), 2002, 2011
Note: This figure shows the number of census tracts in each
metropolitan area that are blacks on the left axis. On the right
axis, it shows the corresponding percentage of census tracts that
are blacks and the percent of census tracts that are non-blacks,
respectively, that are competitive in each of those metropolitan
areas, in the sense that their employment growth has increased
as a share of the overall employment growth in their respective
metropolitan areas.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
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Industry mix
It is interesting to note the specific industry or sectors
that are sources of employment, which make places
more or less competitive. Chart 8 (various panels)
shows the change in the number of jobs by industry
for the selected metropolitan areas in the Seventh
District. This chart suggests that metropolitan
areas that have grown, like Chicago, Des Moines,
and Indianapolis, have a greater mix of expanded
industries. Ten to 13 of the 16 main industries in those
metropolitan areas have grown in terms of generating
jobs. As can be seen, there has been noticeable job
growth in utilities in Chicago and Milwaukee.

Job growth in managerial and administrative
industries, education, arts, public, and other services
were also seen in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Des
Moines. Noticeable job growth in the health industries
was common in all the selected metropolitan areas.
By contrast, employment in only two industries,
health and utilities, grew over this period in the
Detroit metropolitan area. In Flint, some relatively
more tepid job growth is seen in four other
industries, in addition to health. These include
information technology, finance, administrative, and
arts services industries.

Chart 8. Change in employment by industry in selected metropolitan areas in the 7th District
8A. Chicago
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Utility
Construction
Wholesale
Transportation/warehousing
Information
Finance
Real estate
Professional
Managerial
Administrative services
Education
Health
Arts
Other services
Public administration

-80% -70% -60% -50% -40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% -80%
Chicago

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
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8B. Detroit
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Utility
Construction
Wholesale
Transportation/warehousing
Information
Finance
Real estate
Professional
Managerial
Administrative services
Education
Health
Arts
Other services
Public administration

-80% -70% -60% -50% -40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% -80%
Detroit

8C. Indianapolis
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Utility
Construction
Wholesale
Transportation/warehousing
Information
Finance
Real estate
Professional
Managerial
Administrative services
Education
Health
Arts
Other services
Public administration

-80% -70% -60% -50% -40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% -80%
Indianapolis

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
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8D. Flint
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Utility
Construction
Wholesale
Transportation/warehousing
Information
Finance
Real estate
Professional
Managerial
Administrative services
Education
Health
Arts
Other services
Public administration

-80% -70% -60% -50% -40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% -80%
Flint

8E. Des Moines
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Utility
Construction
Wholesale
Transportation/warehousing
Information
Finance
Real estate
Professional
Managerial
Administrative services
Education
Health
Arts
Other services
Public administration

-80% -70% -60% -50% -40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% -80%
Des Moines

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
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8F. Milwaukee
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Utility
Construction
Wholesale
Transportation/warehousing
Information
Finance
Real estate
Professional
Managerial
Administrative services
Education
Health
Arts
Other services
Public administration

-80% -70% -60% -50% -40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% -80%
Milwaukee

Source: Local Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), 2002 , 2011.

Chart 9 illustrates the potential relationship between
job growth in a mixed set of industries in a metropolitan
area and job growth in its various ethnic/racial
neighborhoods. As can be seen in this illustration
for the neighborhoods in the Chicago metro, job
growth in the various industry sectors has spread
across the neighborhoods. In black neighborhoods on
average, jobs in utilities services, transportation and
warehousing, public services, health, education have
grown in close par with Chicago’s. The same is true
in Hispanic neighborhoods for various industries,
such as utilities, transportation and warehousing, and
professional services.

Determinants of neighborhood
competitiveness
In this section, we turn to a multivariate analysis with
an examination of various correlates of employment
growth. We adopt a framework developed in Hartley,
Kaza, and Lester (2016) to understand the extent to
which various factors are associated with making a
place competitive, or affect change in employment.

We are indeed interested in documenting how
minority places kept up with expansion post the
last 2008-2010 recession, and were able to lever and
build upon various factors that contribute to their
competitiveness. Table 1 lists the factors hypothesized
to be associated with employment growth, as well as
their mean statistics.7
These factors include the metro location of the census
tract, whether it is growing in employment or not,
as there could be spillover effect from a metropolitan
area growing on its neighborhoods. We also consider
the distance (in miles) from the centroid of the census
tract to the centroid of the central business district
(CBD). The tract-level employment at the beginning
of the period of analysis (2002 and 2011, respectively)
should have an effect on employment change we
observe over the period.8 We also consider factors
indicating the residential characteristics of the tract;
location factors that measure the accessibility of the
tract to the transportation network;9 and whether
certain place-based policies were in effect in the tract,
such as whether the census tract had LIHTCs, or
was designated with Empowerment Zone (EZ) or
Renewal Community (RC) status.10

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 13 —

Chart 9. Percent change in the number of employed by industry and neighborhood ethnic/racial plurality
in the Chicago metropolitan area
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Utility
Construction
Wholesale
Transportation/warehousing
Information
Finance
Real estate
Professional
Managerial
Administrative Services
Education
Health
Arts
Other Services
Public Administration

-1

0
Hispanic

1
Black

2

3

4

5

White

Source: Local Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), 2002, 2011.

Residential characteristics include the population
in census tract in the initial period, change in the
population of recent movers in 1990 and 2000,
poverty rate in the initial period, share of occupied
housing units in which residents moved between
2000 and 2010, share of housing units built between
2000 and 2010, and change in share of foreign-born
population between 2000 and 2010. Location factors
include residential density of the tracts (housing
units per acre), the industrial diversity of the tract,11
automobile accessibility, and pedestrian accessibility
(the number of automobile and pedestrian-oriented
road links per square miles).
We also consider factors related to financial (banking)
service access and credit flow to businesses and how
this relationship correlates with employment.These
factors include the deposits in branches in the census
tracts, and the number of CRA small business loans
in the census tracts.

To understand how the various factors relate to
each other, we begin by considering the correlation
coefficient matrix in table 2, where we note some
interesting results.12 There is a positive correlation
between neighborhoods that had higher growth in
employment and increased in population, inflows
of new residents, and increased in the share of their
population with a college degree or more (education).
There is also a positive correlation between such
growth and increased industry diversity. On the other
hand, black neighborhoods have a higher positive
correlation with poverty rate, decreased population,
and a negative correlation with increased share of
population with a college degree, industry diversity,
and loan counts to businesses, all factors that are
positively correlated with competitiveness. To a lesser
extent, Hispanic neighborhoods are also positively
correlated with poverty and less loans to businesses.
As expected, LIHTC and EZ/RC designated tracts
are positively correlated with poverty, consistent with
the place-based target of these policies.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 14 —

Table 1. Summary statistics
Full Sample

Black Neighborhoods

Hispanic
Neighborhoods

Obs

Mean

Std.
Dev.

Min

Max

Obs

Mean

Std.
Dev.

Min

Max

Obs

Mean

Std.
Dev.

Min

Max

Change in log employment 2002-2011

4,649

-.06

.71

-5.10

4.50

927

-.18

.92

-5.10

3.66

335

-.12

.77

-.500

2.71

Change in log employment 2011-2014

4,654

.07

.60

-6.44

4.03

932

.02

.80

-6.44

4.03

335

.04

.59

-2.97

3.14

Log distance to CBD

4,659

1.87

1.17

-3.88

4.19

936

1.72

.80

-1.50

3.58

335

1.75

.78

-.05

3.51

Log employment 2002

4,652

6.58

1.40

.69

12.45

929

5.74

1.55

1.10

10.40

335

6.32

1.26

2.64

10.57

Log employment 2011

4,656

6.52

1.45

.00

12.57

934

5.56

1.61

.00

10.51

335

6.20

1.31

2.71

10.60

Log population 2000

4,655

8.16

.51

.69

9.34

936

7.99

.59

1.61

9.34

335

8.25

.50

3.26

8.98

Log population 2011

4,648

8.17

.55

.00

10.17

933

7.80

.65

.00

9.73

334

8.20

.46

6.93

9.19

Employment grew in metro area (y/n)

4,659

.69

.46

.00

1.00

936

.63

.48

.00

1.00

335

.95

.21

.00

1.00

Black plurality neighborhoods

4,659

.20

.40

.00

1.00

936

1.00

.00

1.00

1.00

335

.00

.00

.00

.00

Hispanic plurality neighborhoods

4,659

.07

.26

.00

1.00

936

.00

.00

.00

.00

335

1.00

.00

1.00

1.00

Change in new residents 2000-2010

4,659

.20

.10

.00

1.00

936

1.00

.00

1.00

1.00

335

.00

.00

.00

.00

Recent movers

4,642

.64

.12

.22

1.00

929

.68

.12

.22

1.00

334

.71

.09

.39

.91

Change in log population in neighboring tracts, 2000-2010

4,637

.02

.06

-.33

.38

927

.01

.05

-.25

.28

334

-.01

.10

-.33

.27

Change in share of foreign born

4,659

.01

.19

-.72

1.74

936

-.17

.15

-.72

.62

335

-.04

.13

-.38

.56

Poverty rate 2000

4,650

.11

.12

.00

1.00

933

.27

.15

.02

.93

335

.19

.10

.00

.50

Change in share with college degree 2000-2010

4,652

.05

.07

-.48

.59

933

.02

.05

-.48

.51

335

.02

.05

-.10

.29

Share of occupied housing units with new residents 2000
and 2010

4,654

.13

.17

.00

1.00

934

.03

.07

.00

.54

335

.04

.05

.00

.34

Residential density (units/acre)

4,659

5.49

12.58

.00

561.96

936

6.65

6.12

.00

67.10

335

10.01

5.65

.00

29.43

Industry diversity index (5 category entropy index)

4,659

.47

.25

.00

.99

936

.29

.25

.00

.94

335

.43

.24

.00

.95

Automobile accessibility (links per square mile)

4,659

.91

1.91

.00

36.77

936

1.27

2.42

.00

17.55

335

.64

2.20

.00

19.04

Pedestrian accessibility (links per square mile)

4,659

1.30

3.25

.00

56.94

936

2.01

3.93

.00

30.60

335

1.01

4.07

.00

37.86

Low-income housing tax credit development (y/n)

4,659

28.05

88.46

.00

1,358

936

57.99

133.78

.00

1,358

335

19.50

64.06

.00

674

Empowerment zone/renewal community (y/n)

4,659

.07

.26

.00

1.00

936

.29

.46

.00

1.00

335

.13

.34

.00

1.00

Log of deposits in bank branches in neighborhoods, 2000

4,659

5.22

5.50

.00

17.17

936

2.58

4.53

.00

15.98

335

4.19

5.35

.00

13.58

Log of deposits in bank branches in neighborhoods, 2010

4,659

5.91

5.64

.00

18.33

936

2.70

4.59

.00

16.45

335

4.80

5.34

.00

13.49

Log of number of bank credit to businesses
in neighborhoods, 2005

4,654

4.16

.95

-1.08

7.75

934

3.11

.92

-.47

5.84

335

3.61

.76

1.10

6.59

Log of number of bank credit to businesses
in neighborhoods, 2011

4,659

3.63

1.08

-2.59

7.60

936

2.46

1.05

-2.59

6.03

335

3.15

.79

.69

6.21

Dependent variables

Control variables

Residential characteristics

Location factors

Place-based policy

Financial services

Note: See text for the multiple sources of the data used in the analysis reported in this table and for the definition of the variables.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 15 —

Log population 2000

Hispanic Neighborhoods

Black neighborhoods

White neighborhoods

Employment grew in metro area (y/n)

Log employment 2002

Log distance to CBD

Change in log employment 2011-2014

Change in log employment 2002-2011

Table 2. Correlation coefficients matrix

Change in log employment 2002-2011

1.00

Change in log employment 2011-2014

-.35

1.00

Log distance to CBD

.08

-.04

1.00

Log employment 2002

-.18

-.08

.02

1.00

Employment grew in metro area (y/n)

.08

.01

.46

.11

1.00

White neighborhoods

.09

.04

.08

.30

-.03

1.00

Black neighborhoods

-.08

-.04

-.07

-.30

-.07

-.81

1.00

Hispanic neighborhoods

-.03

-.01

-.03

-.06

.16

-.46

-.14

1.00

Log population 2000

.03

-.05

.22

.23

.16

.13

-.18

.05

1.00

Change in new residents 2000-2010

.02

.05

-.08

.06

.23

-.20

.13

.14

-.13

Change in share of foreign born

.03

.01

.11

.08

.10

.13

-.07

-.11

.08

Change in log population in neighboring tracts

.16

.06

.12

.22

.22

.48

-.49

-.08

.12

Poverty rate 2000

-.10

-.03

-.21

-.25

.00

-.69

.64

.19

-.25

Change in share with college degree 2000-2010

.11

.04

-.02

.06

.05

.30

-.25

-.13

-.05

Units with new residents 2000 and 2010

.18

.05

.12

.09

.03

.35

-.29

-.16

.07

Residential density (units/acre)

-.03

-.02

-.08

-.05

.13

-.10

.05

.10

-.03

Industry diversity index (5 category entropy index)

.15

-.05

.03

.46

.10

.34

-.35

-.04

-.02

Automobile accessibility (links per square mile)

.00

.03

-.12

.11

-.06

-.08

.10

-.04

-.17

Pedestrian accessibility (links per square mile)

-.03

.04

-.17

.11

-.12

-.10

.11

-.02

-.16

Low-income housing tax credit development (y/n)

.00

-.02

-.08

.00

.04

-.21

.25

-.02

-.01

Empowerment zone/renewal community (y/n)

-.05

.01

-.13

-.18

.00

-.43

.43

.07

-.20

Log of deposits in bank branches in neighborhoods

.03

-.02

.06

.42

.03

.25

-.24

-.05

.21

Log loan counts to businesses

.10

.02

.11

.63

.05

.60

-.55

-.17

.45

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 16 —

1.00

.05
1.00

.02
.13
1.00

.39
-.10
-.49
1.00

.03
.00
.28
-.26
1.00

.02
.16
.575
-.36
.39
1.00

.21
-.07
-.12
.17
.06
-.16
1.00

.05
.01
.32
-.29
.20
.26
-.05
1.00

.12
.00
-.06
.13
-.03
-.05
.04
.04
1.00

.12

-.01

-.09

.14

-.03

-.09

.09

.02

.87

1.00

.26

-.02

-.12

.36

-.09

-.03

.04

-.03

.04

.03

1.00

.18

-.04

-.31

.58

-.13

-.16

.04

-.19

.09

.09

.20

1.00

-.05

.04

.15

-.25

.05

.06

-.06

.32

-.01

.01

-.01

-.15

1.00

-.16

.10

.46

-.63

.28

.37

-.10

.48

-.02

-.03

-.16

-.37

.40

Note: See text for the multiple sources of the data used in the analysis reported in this table and for the definition of the variables.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 17 —

1.00

Log loan counts to businesses

Low of deposits in bank branches in
neighborhoods

Empowerment zone/renewal community
(y/n)

Low-income housing tax credit development
(y/n)

Pedestrian accessibility
(links per square mile)

Automobile accessibility
(links per square mile)

Industry diversity index (5 category entropy
index)

Residential density (units/acre)

Share of occupied housing units with new
residents 2000 and 2010

Change in share with college degree 20002010

Poverty rate 2000

Change in log population in neighboring
tracts

Change in share of foreign born

Change in new residents 2000-2010

To ascertain further the relationship between these
factors and job growth, we conduct some multivariate
analyses. Table 3 shows the results of census-tract level
regressions, which reveal the direction and statistical
significance of the correlates of employment growth
for two separate periods. More precisely, the table
shows four specifications; the first three specifications
are presented for the same population (census tracts in
the selected metropolitan areas in the district for the
period 2002 to 2011). The fourth specification shows
the results of the correlates of employment growth for
the period 2011 to 2014. The latter two specifications
show the full set of tract-level explanatory variables.
The first specification includes the log of the distance
from the centroid of the census tract to the central
business district (CBD). The positive coefficient
suggests that tracts that are twice as far from the
CBD have faster employment growth. For this period
here we therefore do not see that neighborhoods that
are closer to downtown necessarily add jobs at a faster
rate than those further away, unlike results using
national data. This specification also includes the
log of the population of the tract at the initial period
(year 2000), which is a proxy for local demand. The
positive coefficient of 0.104 implies that, on average a
10-log-point increase in tract population is associated
with a 1-log-point increase in own-tract employment.
The second specification adds an indicator for whether
the census tracts are in metropolitan areas that are
competitive (i.e., have had employment growth),
and whether there are differences by ethnic/racial
diversity of the census tracts. The result suggests that
census tracts in metropolitan areas that grew also
experienced a faster growth than those in metropolitan
areas that did not grow. We also note in this second
specification that census tracts that have a plurality of
minority population have lower employment growth
than those that are non-minority.
The third specification includes the full set of variables
with the addition of factors indicating residential
characteristics, location characteristics, place-based
public policies, and financial service and credit flow
to business. What is perhaps more notable in this
specification is that including all these characteristics
makes the ethnic/racial neighborhood effect and the
initial local demand factor insignificant, suggesting
that the observed neighborhood-based disparities
in employment growth are fully explained by those
other characteristics included in the specification.

Considering the residential factors, the results show
that dynamics of population changes, both within
tracts, and in the surrounding tracts, are correlated
with own-tract employment growth. New movers
in the census tracts and changes in the census tract
population in neighboring tracts are also significantly
correlated with tract-level employment growth.
The coefficient of 0.30 for new movers and 0.17 for
changes in the local area neighboring population
mean that on average a 10-log-point increase in
new movers is associated with a 3-log-point increase
in own-tract employment; whereas a 10-log-point
increase in neighboring tract population is associated
with a 2-log-point increase in own-tract population.
Relatedly, increase in the share of occupied housing
units with new residents is significantly correlated
with employment growth. Change in building
activity and changes in population around the
tracts in question have been interpreted in previous
research as potentially providing some indication of
gentrification, although in our analytical framework,
this is difficult to confirm.
Other factors, such as the change in the share of
foreign-born, are included in the third specification,
as it is understood that immigrant inflows might
affect labor supply and help make local area more
competitive. We also include the change in the share
of the population with a college degree to capture the
effect of human capital. Poverty, which is a pervasive
issue, has been found to be a detriment to local area
job growth in a nationwide analysis (e.g., Kasarda,
1993). For these metropolitan areas in the district,
the inclusion in the regression of residential factors
related to overall population movement dynamics into
and around the local areas, and residential turnover
consistent with urban redevelopment factors, seems
to usurp the poverty effect.
The third specification also includes locational factors,
and they are almost all significant, consistent with
expectation. Places with higher residential density
tend to be negatively associated with job growth, in
sync with the idea that census tracts that are mostly
residential have less room for business uses. Industrial
diversity is highly correlated with more local job
growth. This result is important, especially given the
fact that higher human capital was not distinctively
significant in increasing competitiveness of local
areas. This suggests that places which offer a wide
range of employment opportunities, and which
make use of a wide range of skills, make such places
competitive and able to increase overall employment.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 18 —

Table 3. OLS regression results: Predictors of census tract-level employment growth, 2002-2011, 2011-2014
(1)
2002-2011

(2)
2002-2011

(3)
2002-2011

(4)
2011-2014

CONSTANT

-.312***

(.166)

.070

(.169)

-.001

(.212)

.921

(.172)

Log distance to CBD

.040***

(.009)

.008

(.010)

.009

(.010)

-.030***

(.008)

Log population 2002

-.102***

(.007)

-.131***

(.008)

-.254***

(.001)

-.238***

(.008)

Log population 2000

.104***

(.021)

.083***

(.021)

.004

(.027)

-.065***

(.022)

Employment grew in metro area (y/n)

.149***

(.025)

.114***

(.026)

.074***

(.022)

Black

-.268***

(.027)

.052

(.036)

-.053***

(.030)

Hispanic

-.208***

(.040)

.020

(.042)

-.041

(.035)

Change in number of new residents
2000-2010

.302***

(.092)

.563***

(.079)

Change in share of foreign born

.161

(.155)

.117

(.133)

Change in neighboring population

.172***

(.073)

.136***

(.062)

Poverty rate 2000

.134

(.148)

.122

(.127)

Change in share with college degree
2000-2010

-.016

(.164)

-.106

(.122)

Share of occupied housing units with new
residents 2000 and 2010

.212

(.076)

-.079

(.062)

Residential density (units/acre)

-.002***

(.001)

-.003***

(.001)

Industry diversity index (5 category
entropy index)

.554***

(.049)

.034

(.042)

Automobile accessibility (Links per
square mile)

.025

(.010)***

.001

(.009)

Pedestrian accessibility (Links per square
mile)

-.004

(.006)

.014***

(.005)

Low-income housing tax credit development (y/n)

.003

(.000)

.000

(.000)

Empowerment zone/renewal community
(y/n)

-.002

(.046)

.051

(.039)

Log of deposits in bank branches in
neighborhoods

.008***

(.002)

.009***

(.002)

Log of number of bank credit to businesses in neighborhoods

.219***

(.020)

.222***

(.014)

R-square

.0468

.0746

.1727

.1737

Observations

4,645

4,645

4,628

4,632

OLS = ordinary least squares; Robust standard errors in parenthesis next to the coefficient estimate. *** Significant at 99percent confidence interval. See
text for the multiple sources of the data used in the analysis reported in this table and for the definition of the variables.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 19 —

Census tracts that have more transportation
accessibility have a positive association with
employment growth.
For neighborhoods in these metropolitan areas in the
Seventh District, place-based housing policies seem to
have a positive association with local area employment
growth. On average, tracts that have received LIHTCs
saw a marginal increase in employment than census
tracts that did not, holding other factors the same.
This result is important, especially given the finding
that new housing redevelopment, which can signal
gentrification, accompanied more employment
growth. It suggests that policies to facilitate low- or
mixed-income housing (like the LIHTC) can help
create more inclusive growth. We did not find a clear
association between empowerment zone/renewal
community status and employment growth, though
the relationship is evident nation-wide (Busso et al.,
2010; Hartley et al., 2016).
Finally, in the third specification, we include the
log of bank branch deposits in a census tract at the
initial period as well as loan counts to businesses as
indicators of the buoyancy of local area banking service
markets, consistent with previous research which
has suggested that the presence of bank branches in
local communities can stimulate relationship-based
lending, and more credit flow to businesses can
stimulate business formation and growth (ToussaintComeau and Newberger, 2014). The results suggest
that these factors have a significant and positive
association with employment growth in local areas.
Lending to businesses appears particularly relevant for
employment growth. A 10-log-point increase in lending
to businesses on average is associated with 2-log-pointhigher employment growth in census tracts.
We repeat the regression estimates for employment
growth in the fourth specification, but for the period
post-recession from 2011 to 2014. The results remain
generally consistent with the regression for the earlier
period, with a few differences. Previous factors such
as industry mix and LIHTC (presence) are not
significant in explaining job growth.13 Tracts that
are further away from the city in this analysis are
significantly negatively associated with employment
growth, indicating an increased importance of
closer proximity to larger employment downtown
employment centers during this economic expansion

period. Remarkably for this period in addition, black
census tracts become statistically significant and
negatively associated with employment growth, even
with the inclusion of the other characteristics. The
coefficient estimate suggests that these neighborhoods
are associated with a 5-log-point-lower employment
growth than non-minority tracts.
Clearly ethnic/racial differentials vary across
the business cycles and are becoming even more
important post-recession. To understand how the
different dynamics vary by neighborhoods, we
therefore re-estimate the regression for employment
growth in 2002-2011 and 2011-2014, conditioned on
the types of neighborhoods (results of these regression
estimates are reported in Appendix 1).
Chart 10 illustrates their covariates by showing the
standardized beta coefficients based on those new
OLS (ordinary least squares) regression estimates for
black and Hispanic census tracts in the metropolitan
areas in the district. Standardizing the results allows
us to compare the associations between the factors
and employment growth in the neighborhoods in
question, and to see how they vary. Each change
can be interpreted as the increase or decrease in
employment growth resulting from one standard
deviation from the mean of these factors.
Highlighting the significant results, we note that
holding everything else the same, the average black
and Hispanic neighborhoods that are in a growing
metropolitan area have 5- and 12-log-point-higher
employment growth than counterparts that are in
declining metropolitan areas. By contrast, the average
neighborhood (white census tracts) in these selected
metros in the district has 6-log-point employment
growth associated with being in a growing
metropolitan area (not shown in a table).
Post the recession period, and even before, ethnic/
minority neighborhoods’ employment growth
appears to be much more heavily associated with
industry diversity than the average neighborhood
in the district. Before and immediately after the
recession, from 2002 to 2011, a change of one
standard deviation in this predictor resulted in
30-log-point increase in employment for black
neighborhoods. From 2011 to 2014, the effect was
a 7.8-log-point change in employment. For that

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 20 —

Appendix 1. OLS regression results: Predictors of census tract-level employment growth, 2002-2011, 2011-2014
Black neighborhoods
CONSTANT
Log distance to CBD
Log employment 2002
Log population 2000
Employment grew in metro area (y/n)
Change in new residents 2000-2010
Change in share of foreign born
Change in neighboring population
Poverty rate 2000
Change in share with college degree 2000-2010
Share of occupied housing units with new residents
Residential density (units/acre)
Industry diversity index (5 category entropy index)
Automobile accessibility (links per square mile)
Pedestrian accessibility (links per square mile)
Low-income housing tax credit development (y/n)
Empowerment zone/renewal community (y/n)
Log of deposits in bank branches in neighborhoods
Log of number of bank credit to businesses in neighborhoods

Hispanic Neighborhoods

2002-2011

2011-2014

2002-2011

2011-2014

-1.320***

.295***

.661

1.024

(.56)

(.512)

(2.753)

(.726)

-.061***

-.091

-.105

-.077***

(.04)

(.036)

(.069)

(.049)

-.362***

-.305***

-.347***

-.281***

(.025)

(.022)

(.047)

(.032)

.227***

.059***

.062

-.085

(.07)

(.066)

(.129)

(.084)

.171***

.082***

.062

.350***

(.077)

(.066)

(.221)

(.160)

.290

.691

-.736***

.642***

(.261)

(.229)

(.470)

(.345)

-.101

-.272

-.267

.316

(.574)

(.509)

(.428)

(.317)

.021

.437

-1.414***

.295

(.252)

(.223)

(.454)

(.346)

.263

.211

-.449

.637

(.275)

(.248)

(.653)

(.466)

.761

.118

1.554***

-.301

(.575)

(.390)

(.971)

(.458)

.308

-.508

.302

-1.019***

(.492)

(.434)

(.880)

(.622)

-.005

-.017

-.033***

-.023***

(.005)

(.004)

(.011)

(.008)

1.009***

.246***

.087

.107

(.141)

(.128)

(.185)

(.138)

.067***

-.069***

.022

.048

(.027)

(.023)

(.049)

(.035)

-.010

.062

-.003

-.027

(.017)

(.015)

(.026)

(.019)

.000

.000

.000

.000

(.000)

(.000)

(.001)

(.000)

-.019

.041

-.009

.064

(.071)

(.063)

(.137)

(.100)

.009

.011

.022***

.006

(.007)

(.006)

(.008)

(.006)

.2390***

.2439***

.3141***

.2819***

(.052)

(.037)

(.088)

(.057)

R-square
Observations
OLS = ordinary least squares. Robust standard errors in parenthesis below the coefficient estimate. *** Significant at 99percent confidence interval. See
text for the multiple sources of the data used in the analysis reported in this table and for the definition of the variables.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 21 —

Chart 10. Standardized OLS regression estimates: Predictors of neighborhood employment growth,
2002-2011, 2011-2014
A. Black neighborhoods
Log of number of bank
credit to businesses
in neighborhoods
Log of deposits in bank
branches in neighborhoods

Empowerment zone/
renewal community (y/n)

Low-income housing tax
credit development (y/n)

Pedestrian accessibility
(links per square mile)

Automobile accessibility
(links per square mile)

Industry diversity index
(5 category entropy index)

Residential density
(units/acre)
Share of occupied housing
units with new residents
2000 and 2010
Change in share with college
degree (2000-2010)

Poverty rate 2000

Change in neighboring
population

Change in share of
foreign born

Change in new residents
2000-2010

Employment grew in
metro area (y/n)

Log population 2000

Log distance to CBD

-40%
2011

-20%

0%

20%

2014

Source: Local Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), 2002, 2011, 2014.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 22 —

40%

B. Hispanic neighborhoods
Log of number of bank
credit to businesses
in neighborhoods
Log of deposits in bank
branches in neighborhoods

Empowerment zone/
renewal community (y/n)

Low-income housing tax
credit development (y/n)

Pedestrian accessibility
(links per square mile)

Automobile accessibility
(links per square mile)

Industry diversity index
(5 category entropy index)

Residential density
(units/acre)
Share of occupied housing
units with new residents
2000 and 2010
Change in share with college
degree (2000-2010)

Poverty rate 2000

Change in neighboring
population

Change in share of
foreign born

Change in new residents
2000-2010

Employment grew in
metro area (y/n)

Log population 2000

Log distance to CBD

-40%
2011

-20%

0%

20%

2014

Source: Local Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), 2002, 2011, 2014.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 23 —

40%

period for Hispanic neighborhoods, the effect was
4.8-log-point. By contrast, there was a marginal
effect of industry diversity (a standardized beta of
0.1) for the average neighborhood in the district.
Industrial diversity reflects the variety of economic
activities that create differences in economic structure
(Malizia and Ke, 1993; Tran, 2011). Economic
diversity tends to help mitigate the effects of economic
downturn. The result suggests that ethnic/racial
neighborhoods are particularly sensitive and benefit
from a diversity of industries in metropolitan areas in the
Seventh District.14
Financial services and business credit factors are other
predictors that appear relevant for the competitiveness
of neighborhoods throughout the Seventh District,
even more so post financial crisis. A change in one
standard deviation in the log of bank branch deposit
indicator is associated with a 0.7 percent change in
employment growth in black neighborhoods and a
0.05 percent increase in employment for Hispanic
neighborhoods. As for loans to business, a one standard
deviation change is associated with more than 0.30
percent increase in local employment growth. As per
previous research, businesses at different stages make
use of both formal and informal financing, and this
mix of sources of funding has been shown to be
contribute to business growth, particularly for ethnic
minority neighborhoods (Bond and Townsend, 1996).
The results here suggest that bank funding to small
businesses and a banking relationship are important
for local area employment growth.

Relatedly, closer distances to central business districts
also have potential benefits for neighborhoods;
this relationship is stronger for ethnic minority
neighborhoods in the district. Previous research has
noted the competitive advantage of inner cities of
being located near cities and this result is consistent
with this thesis (Porter, 1997). A larger population
in surrounding neighborhoods as well as a diverse
industry employment base also predicts job growth
in local areas.
Finally, we consider financial services, an aspect
which is important in light of the financial and
housing market crisis (Nguyen, 2014), and find that
post this period, places with more credit and financial
services or bank branches have job growth benefits
associated with these factors.
All of the metropolitan areas considered in this article
have economic plans and community development
initiatives to address regional economic growth,
and they recognize the need for policies that ensure
inclusive economic growth of neighborhoods,
including traditionally disinvested ethnic minority
neighborhoods in the district (e.g., Newberger and
Keller, 2017; Longworth, 2017; Mattoon and Wang,
2014). The findings support policies and efforts to
ensure the economic and financial integration of
ethnic minority neighborhoods within their regions.

Conclusion
We use an increasingly popular data source, the
LODES, to analyze competitiveness and job growth,
as well as other data sources to measure other location
and policy factors associated with such growth. We
find ethnic minority neighborhood differentials
relative to their region are significant. We analyze
both, before and after the 2008-2010 recession, as
well as the post-recession period up to 2014 (most
recent available data), and find location dynamics that
are consistently associated with employment growth
in local areas across business cycles. Consistent
with regional economic spillovers effect, we find
that neighborhoods in metropolitan areas that have
increased employment also tend to have job growth
increases.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 24 —

Notes

14. Note that this result is only for metropolitan areas. Poor white neighborhoods in
rural areas are also likely to be sensitive to structural industry changes. The scope of
this analysis does not cover poorer communities throughout the U.S.

1. See Bond and Townsend (1996) for a study of financing in Little Village. See ToussaintComeau and Newberger (2017) for an analysis of Greater Chatham.
2. For a review of the cluster literature and inclusive growth of inner cities, see
Toussaint-Comeau, Newberger, and Augustine (2016).
3. The LODES data set is a synthetic data set derived from confidential data sources
such as unemployment insurance records, Topologically Integrated Geographic
Encoding and Referencing line files, and additional administrative data from the
U.S. Census Bureau and the Social Security Administration. ‘Noise’ is then infused
into the workplace totals to protect employer and employee confidentiality. For
a more complete description of the LODES data set and its differences with the
standard census products, such as the American Community Survey, refer to Graham,
Kutzbach, and McKenzie (2014).
4. The Fed’s Seventh District includes states in whole and in part, namely northern
Illinois, the southern peninsula of Michigan, the state of Iowa, northern Indiana, and
southern Wisconsin.
5. One of the reasons for the relatively higher Hispanic labor force participation may
be the age profile of that population, the latter having a higher percent of younger
working-age population (Patten, 2016).
6. The increase in income is consistent with a trend observed nationwide, across states.
Accessed from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/acs-singleyear.html. Also see https://www.freep.com/story/news/2017/09/14/michigandersmaking-more-cash-even-detroit-new-stats-say/660518001.
7. The empirical specification can be expressed as follows:
ΔEmpi,c=α c+β ddistCBDi,c+β eempi,c+β rresi,c+β1loci,c+β ppoli,c+β ffini,c+β mmetroi,c+ε i (1)
Where the dependent variable ΔEmpi,c is the change in the log of employment
in census tract 2002 to 2011 in tract, i, in city, c. The explanatory variables are α c ,
a metro location fixed effect; distCBDi,c the log of the distance (in miles) from the
centroid of the tract to the centroid of the central business district (CBD); β eempi,c
the log of tract-level employment at the beginning of the period); resi,c a vector
of variables describing the residential characteristics of the tract; loci,c a vector of
location factors that measure the accessibility of the tract vis-à-vis the transportation
network; poli,c a vector describing whether certain place-based policies were in effect
in the tract; fini,c is the financial market conditions in the census tracts; metroi,c is the
metro location of the census tract, whether it is growing in employment or not, and
ε i is an error term.
8. The inclusion of the initial level of employment is meant to control for any
measurement error in the employment LODES data.
9. Most of the location variables are from EPA, https://search.epa.gov/epasearch/
epasearch?querytext=smartlocationdatabase&collection=epa_default&result_
template=2col.ftl.
10. Low-income housing tax credit data is from HUD, https://lihtc.huduser.gov.
Empowerment Zone data is from HUD, https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/151/
empowerment-zone/renewal-community-ez/rc-census-tract-table.
11. Entropy index of industrial diversity is defined as follows: D(E1, E2…
En) = - ∑_(i=1)^n Ei log2 (Ei). N is the number of industrial sectors, Ei is
the proportion of total employment in the tract that is located in the ith
industry. The EPA computed this as part of its Smart Location Initiative.
12. The correlation coefficient is a number between -1 and + 1, which represents the linear
association of two variables or sets of data. A value of -1 indicates perfect negative
correlation, a value of zero indicates an absence of correlation, and a value of +1
indicates perfect positive correlation.

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13. The lack of association may be an artifice of the earlier dates for which the LIHTC
data is available and the fact that we are now looking at changes for a later period.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
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Toussaint-Comeau, Maude, Robin Newberger, and Darline Augustine, 2016, “Inclusive
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Biography
Maude Toussaint-Comeau is a senior business economist in the
Community Development and Policy Studies division of
the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

ProfitWise News and Views Issue 4 | 2017
— 26 —

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