THE ECONOMICS OF COMMUTING AND THE URBAN LABOUR MARKET

ABSTRACT. The spatial distribution of households and firms, or urban spatial structure, is a core element of the study of urban economics and the crucial determinant of commuting patterns. This paper examines developments in the analysis of urban spatial structure and commuting are related to the urban labour market—that is the analysis of labour supply and labour demand in a spatial context. These developments have been overlooked in the traditional approach to urban structure and commuting where most attention has been devoted to the markets for land and housing rather than the market for labour. Yet a little reflection suggests that the labour market might have a great deal to do with the location decisions of households and firms, and hence with commuting patterns. We argue that much criticism of the economic analysis of urban structure and commuting can be addressed by explicit incorporation of the labour market into the conventional model of urban location. This criticism includes findings that the theory cannot explain the tendency for richer households to live farther from the central business district and commute farther to work (Wheaton, 1977) and findings of substantial unexplained or 'wasteful' commuting according to conventional theory (Hamilton, 1982). The paper begins by outlining the basic model of residential location and commuting (Section 2). We then consider extensions that involve the introduction of labour supply decisions and which determine the value of commuting time (Section 3). More recent extensions involve the introduction of decentralized workplaces (Section 4) and, logically, the issues of job search and migration (Section 5). We conclude with a summary of the progress in incorporating labour market behaviour into the analysis of urban structure and commuting and our suggestions for further research in this area.     

Who's in charge of the central city? The conflict between efficiency and equity in the design of a metropolitan area

A circular metropolitan area consists of a central city surrounded by a suburb. Households sort over the two jurisdictions based on public service levels and their costs of commuting to the metropolitan center. Using numerical simulations, we show that (1) there typically exist two equilibria: one in which the poor form the voting majority in the central city and the other in which the rich form the majority in the central city; (2) there is an efficiency vs. equity trade-off as to which equilibrium is preferred; and (3) if the central city contains only poor households, equity favors expanding the central city to include rich households. The third result arises not because of a fiscal subsidy from rich to poor households induced by a property tax but rather because of a change in house price capitalization.     

The Influence of Geography on the Spatial Agglomeration of Production in the European Union

Abstract

Small regions and towns often experience problems such as high out-migration and unemployment. In these situations there is an urgent need to do something positive. Infrastructure development projects, partially financed by the national government, are a popular suggestion. We ponder the relevance of these actions in this paper in a context of project evaluation. We introduce computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling as a complement of the other quantitative evaluation techniques. We will use the town of Lapua in South Ostrobothnia, Finland, which is planning to implement two large-scale infrastructure projects, as an example. Our simulation tool is the Finnish multi-sector and interregional CGE RegFin model. We consider the regional short-run effects of the construction phase, the long-run effects of new business activity and the so-called secondary effects based on the commuting and trade patterns of the households.     

Implications of Chinese Farmers in the Russian Far East

Chinese farmers are actively engaged in the economy of the Russian Far East. We used an econometric model to analyze panel data on the socioeconomic impact on local residents of Chinese farmers and workers in the Russian Far East (RFE). Proximity to Chinese farms and sales to Chinese retailers increases the well-being, the farm income, and the food costs of Russian rural households. The same factors raise land prices through increased competition, reduce the wages of Russian workers and the number of family members working on Russian farms, increase the number of full-time jobs for farm workers, lower yields of corn and wheat, and raise yields of potatoes and rice. Thus, the effects of the Chinese presence on rural Russian households varies with the makeup of the household, the amount of land it owns and leases, and the number of household members who work on other farms. Cooperation with Chinese farmers and retailers plays an important role in determining the ability of the rural areas of the RFE to develop sustainably.     

An empirical model of residential location and the journey-to-work in a metropolitan area

In this paper we present and estimate a single equation model designed to explain the residential location behaviour of individuals living in a multi-centered metropolitan area. We test the model for heads of households and non-heads of households separately, as well as for the total working population, in order to isolate differences in commuting behaviour between primary and secondary wage earners. The relationships are estimated from 1971 Census, cross-section data using least squares multiple regression. The data pertain to the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) and sixty-three designated zones therein.The estimation results reveal that although location-rents prove to be significant in the individual's residential location decision-making process, their effect was limited to discouraging those employed in or near the central business district (CBD) from living close to work. The existence of secondary employment centres did not have the same significant effect in bidding up location-rents. Furthermore, contrary to the standard theory, the results suggest that residential location decisions are made in response to the availability of collective residential opportunities and workers' preferences for specific residential attributes rather than by reference to the “transportation cost—housing cost” trade-off. Among the socio-economic variables, age of the worker is found to be most significant in affecting journey-to-work distance. The results provide some evidence that non-heads are, to a certain extent, more sensitive to urban structural constraints in their commuting behaviour.     

Housing equity,residential mobility and commuting

Highly productive economies require a flexible labor force with workers that move in accordance with the changing demand for goods and services. In times with falling housing prices, the mobility of home owning workers may be hampered by a lock-in effect of low or even negative housing equity. This paper explores the effect of housing equity on both the residential mobility and the commuting pattern of homeowners. We merge administrative registers for the Danish population and properties and get highly reliable micro data for our analysis. We find that low and negative housing equity substantially reduces residential mobility among homeowners. The negative effect of locked-in low equity families on labor market mobility may be mitigated by commuting. However, our results show that family heads in low or negative equity homes are not found to commute more than households with higher housing equity, but also that a considerable fraction of home owning family heads commute. The analysis of the joint decision of homeowners to commute or move shows that the option of moving, as an alternative to not moving and not commuting, is chosen by five to six percent of homeowners with low housing equity, while the option of not moving but commuting is chosen by 60%.     

Job location and the journey-to-work: An empirical analysis

In this paper we present and estimate a single equation model designed to explain the job-location behaviour of individuals living in a multi-centered metropolitan area. We test the model separately for heads of households and non-heads of households, as well as for the total working population, in order to isolate differences in commuting behaviour between primary and secondary wage earners. The relationships are estimated from 1971 Census, cross-section data using least squares multiple regression.The results of the location equation indicate that wage gradient variables are important determinants of job location for heads of households. On the other hand, non-heads are rather insensitive to the wage gradient. Rather, contrary to the decisions of heads, the job-location choices of non-heads are strongly influenced by socio-economic attributes, notably occupation, family size and age. Clearly, job-location decisions of primary wage earners (usually the household heads) are influenced by earnings-maximizing considerations while secondary earners (non-heads in general) put more weight on other socio-economic factors. The results also suggest that there is a hidden cost associated with uneven directional growth in the Toronto CMA. It is suggestive that urban planning strategies should reflect consideration of the greater desire or need for accessibility on the part of secondary wage earners (non-heads) and the need to balance residential and job opportunities at the extending margin of the urban area.     

确权促进了宅基地流转吗?——基于温州农户的调查

本文基于对温州农户的调查,考察确权颁证如何影响宅基地流转。研究表明,确权能显著促进农户参与宅基地流转。异质性分析发现,确权能显著提升较年轻农户和居住在城郊农村农户的宅基地流转概率,但无法激励年龄较大农户和居住在非城郊农村的农户参与流转。机制分析表明,确权能够有效促进宅基地流转,一方面是因为确权强化了宅基地私有观念,提升了农户流转意愿;另一方面,是因为确权让农户更可能获得农房抵押贷款,拓宽了使用权流转渠道。本文的政策含义在于,对交易标的物进行产权界定能够起到激活农村宅基地流转市场的作用,但在落实这一政策时须考虑农户异质性带来的效果分化,并制定更有针对性的宅基地管理政策。     

Estimating household demand for housing attributes in rent-controlled markets

We estimate the household’s marginal willingness to pay for housing attributes in the rent-controlled sector, so where rents are not freely market determined. The application of hedonic price approaches to obtain estimates of the household’s value of housing characteristics is then invalid. We apply an alternative estimation approach based on residential mobility. In our application, we focus on the households’ willingness to pay for number of rooms as well as the willingness to pay to avoid a long commuting distance. Our estimates appear plausible. For example, for households in the rent-controlled sector are willing to pay about 7% of their household income for an additional room. The implied marginal costs of commuting are about €0.17–€0.23 per (one-way) kilometre.     

神经网络在农民收入预测中的应用

农村问题的核心是农民问题,而农民问题的焦点是收入问题。将神经网络的BP算法引入我国农民收入研究领域,并应用神经网络工具对我国农村居民家庭人均纯收入进行了预测研究。该预测模型在算法的收敛速度和预测精度方面都达到了较好的效果,对未来我国农民收入的研究具有重要意义,最后提提出了促进我国农民收入增长的各项对策和建议。     

中国半城市化问题初探

半城市化是一个特殊的过程 ,它有着自身的特点和发展机理。本文从应用的角度界定了半城市化地区的范围 ,分析了城郊型半城市化和乡村型半城市化的发展机理 ,探讨了推动半城市化的因素 ,总结了半城市化地区的特点并简要分析了新世纪半城市化地区发展所面临的机遇和挑战。     

农村专业大户电子商务技术采纳意愿影响因素研究

大力发展电子商务技术是更好解决“三农”问题,全面推进乡村振兴,促进农村产业兴旺,巩固脱贫攻坚成果的重要环节和抓手。本文以江西省240个农村专业大户为研究样本,运用结构方程模型对影响农村专业大户电子商务采纳行为的主要因素进行实证研究。结果表明:感知的有用性、感知的易用性、自我效能、网络外部性会对农村专业大户采纳电子商务技术产生影响,且均具有显著的正向作用。因此,必须从电子商务平台技术、农户自身认知和农村电子商务使用环境等方面加以引导,提供政策、资金、人才等方面的支持,以此来促进电子商务技术在农村地区的发展,推进乡村振兴战略的实施。     

Suburbanization and transportation in the monocentric model

This paper presents a version of the monocentric city model that incorporates heterogeneous commuting speeds by introducing radial commuting highways. This model implies that metropolitan area population spreads out along new highways, which are positively valued by residents. Simulations of conservative specifications of the model imply that each additional highway ray causes about a 10 percent decline in central city population. Given observed central population declines and urban highway construction between 1950 and 1990, this model implies that highways can account for an important part of urban population decentralization.     

Suburbanization and transportation in the monocentric model

This paper presents a version of the monocentric city model that incorporates heterogeneous commuting speeds by introducing radial commuting highways. This model implies that metropolitan area population spreads out along new highways, which are positively valued by residents. Simulations of conservative specifications of the model imply that each additional highway ray causes about a 10 percent decline in central city population. Given observed central population declines and urban highway construction between 1950 and 1990, this model implies that highways can account for an important part of urban population decentralization.     

The opportunity costs of commuting: the value of a commuting satellite account framework with an example from Lisbon Metropolitan Area*

Commuting affects regional and urban economies. It shapes urban areas, defines their relationships with neighboring regions, intensifies economic flows and exacerbates energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper sets out a proposal for an innovative commuting satellite account (CSA), integrated in a multi-regional input–output model. This framework combines commuting activities with regional distribution of income, distinct household consumption structures, real estate renting activities and the energy consumption and environmental flows incorporated in the different industries. To assess the opportunity costs of commuting, the CSA framework is applied to the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The socio-economic-environmental impacts of a scenario in which commuters become non-commuters by moving their residence to the municipality in which they work are estimated. The analysis indicates that: commuting, in general, induces significant economic and environmental opportunity costs. Finally, the adoption of policy-oriented recommendations contributing to limit sprawling in metropolitan regions is discussed.     

Community income distributions in a metropolitan area

We extend de Bartolome and Ross [C.A.M. de Bartolome, S.L. Ross, Equilibrium with local governments and commuting: Income sorting vs. income mixing, Journal of Urban Economics 54 (2003) 1–20] to the case when the income distribution in the metropolitan area is a continuous distribution. In particular, we consider a circular central city surrounded by a suburban community. All households must commute to the metropolitan center and public service levels differ in the two jurisdictions. There is intra-jurisdictional and inter-jurisdictional capitalization. Our model has an equilibrium in which the income distributions of the central city and of the suburban community do overlap. Our finding contrasts with the traditional finding of Alonso–Mills–Muth-type models of spatial sorting and of Tiebout-type models of fiscal sorting, both of which have been shown to predict that the income distributions of the two communities do not overlap. In addition, the model explains the fixedness in jurisdictional boundaries.     

Labour supply and commuting time: An empirical study

We estimate a simple labour supply model that incorporates commuting time in a utility maximizing framework. Housing prices are assumed to vary with commuting time, and the elasticity of housing prices with respect to the latter is estimated to be about 10 percent. Using this elasticity estimate the price of commuting time averaged over all individuals is $3.22 while the wage rate is $4.72; thus commuting time is implicitly valued at about two-thirds of the wage rate on average. As far as work hours are concerned, almost all individuals are on the backward bending part of their labour supply curve.     

Trip Chaining: Who Wins Who Loses?

This paper studies how trip chaining (combining commuting and shopping or commuting and child care) affects market competition: in particular, pricing and the equilibrium number of firms as well as welfare. We use a monopolistic competition framework, where firms sell differentiated products as well as offering differentiated jobs to households, who are all located at some distance from the firms. The symmetric equilibriums with and without the option of trip chaining are compared. We show analytically that introducing the trip chaining option reduces the profit margin of the firms in the short run, but increases welfare. The welfare gains are, however, smaller than the transport cost savings. In the free-entry long-run equilibrium, the number of firms decreases but welfare is higher. A numerical illustration gives orders of magnitude of the different effects.     

IMPACTS OF FOOD PRICES ON THE ECONOMY: SOCIAL ACCOUNTING MATRIX AND MICROSIMULATION APPROACH IN INDONESIA

This study investigated the impacts of increasing the prices of heavily protected food commodities in Indonesia on producer and consumer prices. It also evaluated the changes in household living expenses and poverty. The Indonesian Food Social Accounting Matrix was developed along with a price multiplier matrix–microsimulation approach that was used to analyze problems. Poor rural households were the most negatively affected by the increments in food prices. This result contrasted with the standard political argument stating that high rice prices will decrease poverty, particularly in rural areas where the poor live or work as farmers. Of all the food commodities observed, the changes in the rice prices had the most substantial impact on both producer and consumers price, as well as the households’ living cost, particularly low‐income households. Therefore, an increase of 25% in rice price will raise urban, rural, and national poverty levels by 0.13%, 0.10%, and 0.11%, respectively.     

金融扶持农民专业合作组织有待深入发展

农民专业合作经济组织是农民自愿参加的,以农户经营为基础,以某一产业或产品为纽带,以增加成员收入为目的,实行资金、技术、生产、购销、加工等互助合作经济组织。是继土地家庭承包制以来农村基本经营制度的又一次重大变革。本文在对农业专业合作组织现状进行了调查分析,发现金融扶持在这个全新市场中极其缺失。对一些问题及其原因进行了分析思考,并提出了促进金融支持农民专业合作组织的对策建议。