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The local labour market effects of light rail transit

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  • Tyndall, Justin

Abstract

Many US cities have made large investments in light rail transit in order to improve commuting networks. I analyse the labour market effects of light rail in four US metros. I propose a new instrumental variable to overcome endogeneity in transit station location, enabling causal identification of neighbourhood effects. Light rail stations are found to drastically improve employment outcomes in the surrounding neighbourhood. To incorporate endogenous sorting by workers, I estimate a structural neighbourhood choice model. Light rail systems tend to raise rents in accessible locations, displacing lower skilled workers to isolated neighbourhoods, which reduces aggregate metropolitan employment in equilibrium.

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  • Tyndall, Justin, 2021. "The local labour market effects of light rail transit," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:124:y:2021:i:c:s0094119021000322
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2021.103350
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    Cited by:

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    2. Pablo D. Fajgelbaum & Cecile Gaubert & Nicole Gorton & Eduardo Morales & Edouard Schaal, 2023. "Political Preferences and the Spatial Distribution of Infrastructure: Evidence from California's High-Speed Rail," NBER Working Papers 31438, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Transportation; Transit; Residential choice; Neighbourhood change; Spatial mismatch;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • R13 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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