Intrametropolitan Location and Office Market Dynamics

Abstract

Theory and evidence point to interdependency between office location decisions and dynamic growth paths. For example, clerical and administrative support employees are suburbanizing relatively rapidly in most markets in response to changes in technology and transportation. This paper tests the hypothesis that both cross‐sectional and dynamic variables are important determinants of dynamic patterns and office market forecasts. County Business Patterns data at the county and town levels indicate substantial spatial specialization (i.e., agglomeration) by type of office activity. But these agglomerations do shift over time, as indicated by the maintained hypothesis. Our econometric estimates suggest that the demand for office space in submarkets is responsive to agglomerations by type of industry as well as to growth in FIRE employment. The supply of office space is responsive to lagged expected demand.