Bartik's (1991, 1993) approach to identifying shocks in demand to regional economies has been used extensively for nearly 30 years. We chronicle the development of Bartik‐type shift‐share instruments and examine the empirical performance of alternative versions that use different combinations of national shift and local share variables in their construction. We offer three main findings. First, instruments constructed from shares that omit employment in nontraded sectors empirically dominate versions that include total employment. Second, industrial sectors with high average shares and low variation across areas are more likely to be nontraded and endogenous. This suggests placing large weights on nontraded sector shares worsens both relevance and potential endogeneity. Finally, we demonstrate national shifters other than employment, such as prices and wages, can be used to construct instruments with unique and relevant explanatory power.

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The attractiveness of cities has long been associated with their production and cost advantages arising from both internal and external economies of scale, which have substantially raised the standard of living of both urban and rural residents. However, in recent years urban economists have focused on cities also as centers of consumption and argued that there is a strong relationship between the "consumer city" offering attractive amenities and its growth and development. Households, especially those with higher incomes, want to live where they can entertain themselves during their leisure time, by, for example, eating at fine restaurants, attending live performances, and visiting other places of interest near their place of residence. The papers in this special issue make important contributions to this line of research, by focusing on the endogeneity of urban amenities, broadly defined as those that arise from the locations, interactions and investments of economic agents. Cities can be attractive based on their exogenous factors such as climate, proximity to mountains and oceans, and other natural resources, but their appeal also depends on endogenous man-made lifestyle amenities.