The growth of nonemployer businesses as a share of the working-age population has been little studied relative to the decline of employer business rate in the United States. We show that local labor markets specializing in routine task-intensive jobs have experienced a higher adoption of information technology as well as the growth of nonemployer businesses primarily through increasing self-employment in nonroutine manual task-intensive jobs that are less frequently outsourced to business service firms.

We find that routine-biased technological change decreases the employment-to-population ratio of foreign-born population over the last three decades (1980–2010). This impact is greater for foreign-born population with lower English proficiency. As computerization and automation substitute for workers in routine occupations, switching from routine jobs to non-routine cognitive jobs may be more challenging for foreign-born workers than for native workers.

Rail incidents involving release of crude oil from train tank cars is a safety concern. The objectives of this study are identification and quantification of the impacts of different factors on types and consequences of crude oil release from trains, and investigation of the impacts of types and consequences of release on the resulting costs. Two separate multinomial models for types of release (gas dispersion, spillage or both) and consequences of release (fire, explosion or none), and one joint multinomial model were estimated using 10-year crude oil release data. Non-accident releases were associated with higher probability of gas dispersion, lower probability of fire and explosion, and lower costs. Tank car head puncture resistance system and tank car insulation increased the probability of gas dispersion. Increase in quantity of spillage, increased the probability of fire and explosion, significantly. Robust linear regression models captured the effects of types and consequences of release on post-release costs. While sufficient evidence was not found regarding a relationship between types of release and costs, fires and explosions significantly increased the costs. These findings can assist decision-making regarding safety improvement of rail-based crude oil transportation.

geographical area set of was classified by the Bureau of Economic Analysis based on homogeneity of the states within them in terms of economic characteristics, demographic, social, and cultural characteristics. Composition as follows: (Alas-ka, (Illinois, (Dela-ware, (Connecticut, (Arizona,

This paper examines how proximity to an ethanol plant influences land-use and crop choice among producers. We estimated a Tobit model of crop choice within parcels located in Central Nebraska in a 2014 sample period in order to analyze changes in land-use and crop choice. We employed Geographic Information System (GIS) databases to access relevant data on crop choice and other land uses in the study area parcels, in addition to detailed information on the location and capacity of irrigation wells. We utilized an instrumental variable approach to account for the endogeneity of crop choice with ethanol refinery locations in the study area. Our regional model also took into account specific characteristics of the local processing markets for grains, including animal food manufacturers and livestock as well as ethanol plants. Our estimates revealed that ethanol plants alter land-use in several ways. We found that proximity to an ethanol plant increases the share of land allocated to corn cultivation up to a distance of 30 miles and that the portion of land parcels allocated to corn production falls with distance from an ethanol plant in a non-linear pattern. We also find that land allocation to grassland and pasture rises with distance from ethanol plants.