IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jotrge/v93y2021ics0966692321001253.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban structure, commuting burden, and employment status of labour forces in an Australian city

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Tiebei
  • Dodson, Jago
  • Goldie, Xavier

Abstract

Understanding the productivity effects of worker commuting burdens is essential for appraisals of urban planning and investment strategies designed to improve urban productivity. However, the extant urban planning literature lacks systematic analysis of the influence of commuting costs on labour mobility, employment engagement, and productivity. This paper provides the first ever detailed analysis of mobility and commuting burdens for workers in a range of industries and occupational groups in Melbourne, Australia. Linking commuting burdens and measures of employment status in urban areas, this paper finds that the labour force in areas experiencing high commuting burdens exhibit lower levels of engagement with job markets. This research further reveals important variations in such relationships across diverse industry and occupation groups. The results provide urban policy makers with better information about urban transport and employment patterns, thus enabling them to investigate alternative approaches to investing in housing and transport infrastructure to reduce worker commuting burdens and improve economic performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Tiebei & Dodson, Jago & Goldie, Xavier, 2021. "Urban structure, commuting burden, and employment status of labour forces in an Australian city," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:93:y:2021:i:c:s0966692321001253
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103072
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692321001253
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103072?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ciccone, Antonio, 2002. "Agglomeration effects in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 213-227, February.
    2. Allen, Jim & van der Velden, Rolf, 2001. "Educational Mismatches versus Skill Mismatches: Effects on Wages, Job Satisfaction, and On-the-Job Search," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 434-452, July.
    3. Nicholas Crafts, 2009. "Transport infrastructure investment: implications for growth and productivity," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(3), pages 327-343, Autumn.
    4. Yena Song & Keumsook Lee & William Anderson & T. Lakshmanan, 2012. "Industrial agglomeration and transport accessibility in metropolitan Seoul," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 299-318, July.
    5. Axisa, Jeffrey J. & Scott, Darren M. & Bruce Newbold, K., 2012. "Factors influencing commute distance: a case study of Toronto’s commuter shed," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 123-129.
    6. Lothlorien Redmond & Patricia Mokhtarian, 2001. "The positive utility of the commute: modeling ideal commute time and relative desired commute amount," Transportation, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 179-205, May.
    7. Li, Tiebei & Dodson, Jago & Sipe, Neil, 2015. "Differentiating metropolitan transport disadvantage by mode: Household expenditure on private vehicle fuel and public transport fares in Brisbane, Australia," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 16-25.
    8. Jain, Juliet & Lyons, Glenn, 2008. "The gift of travel time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 81-89.
    9. Anthony J. Venables, 2011. "Productivity in cities: self-selection and sorting," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 241-251, March.
    10. Zenou, Yves & Smith, Tony E., 1995. "Efficiency wages, involuntary unemployment and urban spatial structure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 547-573, August.
    11. Mori, Tomoya & Turrini, Alessandro, 2005. "Skills, agglomeration and segmentation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 201-225, January.
    12. Rice, Patricia & Venables, Anthony J. & Patacchini, Eleonora, 2006. "Spatial determinants of productivity: Analysis for the regions of Great Britain," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 727-752, November.
    13. Anzhelika Antipova, 2020. "Analysis of Commuting Distances of Low-Income Workers in Memphis Metropolitan Area, TN," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, February.
    14. Timothy F. Harris & Yannnis M. Ioannides, 2000. "Productivity and Metropolitan Density," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0016, Department of Economics, Tufts University.
    15. Daniel Chatman & Robert Noland, 2011. "Do Public Transport Improvements Increase Agglomeration Economies? A Review of Literature and an Agenda for Research," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 725-742.
    16. Wrede, Matthias, 2011. "Unemployment, commuting, and search intensity," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 12/2011, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics.
    17. Timothy, Darren & Wheaton, William C., 2001. "Intra-Urban Wage Variation, Employment Location, and Commuting Times," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 338-366, September.
    18. Mackie, P.J. & Jara-Díaz, S. & Fowkes, A.S., 0. "The value of travel time savings in evaluation," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(2-3), pages 91-106, April.
    19. Edward L. Glaeser & Joseph Gyourko & Raven E. Saks, 2006. "Urban growth and housing supply," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(1), pages 71-89, January.
    20. Nan Ding & Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen, 2019. "An Analysis of Commuting Distance and Job Accessibility for Residents in a U.S. Legacy City," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 109(5), pages 1560-1582, September.
    21. Jos Van Ommeren & Michiel Van Leuvensteijn, 2005. "New Evidence of the Effect of Transaction Costs on Residential Mobility," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 681-702, November.
    22. Daniel G. Chatman & Robert B. Noland, 2014. "Transit Service, Physical Agglomeration and Productivity in US Metropolitan Areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(5), pages 917-937, April.
    23. Edward L. Glaeser & Joshua D. Gottlieb, 2009. "The Wealth of Cities: Agglomeration Economies and Spatial Equilibrium in the United States," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 983-1028, December.
    24. Hu, Lingqian & Schneider, Robert J., 2017. "Different ways to get to the same workplace: How does workplace location relate to commuting by different income groups?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 106-115.
    25. Ma, Liang & Ye, Runing, 2019. "Does daily commuting behavior matter to employee productivity?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 130-141.
    26. van Ommeren, Jos N. & Gutiérrez-i-Puigarnau, Eva, 2011. "Are workers with a long commute less productive? An empirical analysis of absenteeism," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 1-8, January.
    27. Lingqian Hu, 2017. "Job accessibility and employment outcomes: which income groups benefit the most?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(6), pages 1421-1443, November.
    28. Schwanen, Tim & Dijst, Martin, 2002. "Travel-time ratios for visits to the workplace: the relationship between commuting time and work duration," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 573-592, August.
    29. Robst, John, 2007. "Education and job match: The relatedness of college major and work," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 397-407, August.
    30. Seamus McGuinness & Konstantinos Pouliakas & Paul Redmond, 2018. "Skills Mismatch: Concepts, Measurement And Policy Approaches," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 985-1015, September.
    31. Li, Tiebei & Dodson, Jago, 2020. "Job growth, accessibility, and changing commuting burden of employment centres in Melbourne," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bi, Hui & Li, Aoyong & Hua, Mingzhuang & Zhu, He & Ye, Zhirui, 2022. "Examining the varying influences of built environment on bike-sharing commuting: Empirical evidence from Shanghai," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 51-65.
    2. Shuheng Jin & Tianzhu Nie & Ngai Pun & Duoduo Xu, 2022. "Spatial Mismatch, Different Labor Markets and Precarious Employment: The Case of Hong Kong," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 51-73, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patricia C Melo & Daniel J Graham & David Levinson & Sarah Aarabi, 2017. "Agglomeration, accessibility and productivity: Evidence for large metropolitan areas in the US," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(1), pages 179-195, January.
    2. Jacob Jordaan & Eduardo Rodriguez-Oreggia, 2012. "Regional growth in Mexico under trade liberalisation: how important are agglomeration and FDI?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 48(1), pages 179-202, February.
    3. Ye, Runing & De Vos, Jonas & Ma, Liang, 2020. "Analysing the association of dissonance between actual and ideal commute time and commute satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 47-60.
    4. Iragaël Joly & Stéphanie Vincent-Geslin, 2016. "Intensive travel time: an obligation or a choice?," Post-Print halshs-01309467, HAL.
    5. Cohen-Blankshtain, Galit, 2021. "On another track: Differing views of experts and politicians on rail investments in peripheral localities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Patricia C. Melo & Daniel J. Graham, 2018. "Transport‐induced agglomeration effects: Evidence for US metropolitan areas," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 37-47, March.
    7. Dodson, Jago & Li, Tiebei & Taylor, Elizabeth & Goldie, Xavier & Huang, Donna, 2020. "Commuting burden and housing affordability for low-income renters," SocArXiv 7n5hw, Center for Open Science.
    8. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2020. "Elderly's Mobility to and from Work in the US: Metropolitan Status and Population Size," IZA Discussion Papers 13949, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Manuel Salas-Velasco, 2021. "Mapping the (mis)match of university degrees in the graduate labor market," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 55(1), pages 1-23, December.
    10. Chauvin, Juan Pablo & Glaeser, Edward & Ma, Yueran & Tobio, Kristina, 2017. "What is different about urbanization in rich and poor countries? Cities in Brazil, China, India and the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 17-49.
    11. Milakis, Dimitris & Cervero, Robert & van Wee, Bert & Maat, Kees, 2015. "Do people consider an acceptable travel time? Evidence from Berkeley, CA," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 76-86.
    12. Hélène Laurent & Michel Mignolet & Olivier Meunier, 2009. "Regional policy: What is the most efficient instrument?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(3), pages 491-507, August.
    13. Gurran, Nicole & Hulse, Kath & Dodson, Jago & Pill, Madeleine & Dowling, Robyn & reynolds, margaret & Maalsen, Sophia, 2021. "Urban productivity and affordable rental housing supply in Australian cities and regions," SocArXiv qrdb6, Center for Open Science.
    14. Behrens, Kristian & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2015. "Agglomeration Theory with Heterogeneous Agents," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 171-245, Elsevier.
    15. David Morris & Enrico Vanino & Carlo Corradini, 2020. "Effect of regional skill gaps and skill shortages on firm productivity," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(5), pages 933-952, August.
    16. Milakis, Dimitris & van Wee, Bert, 2018. "“For me it is always like half an hour”: Exploring the acceptable travel time concept in the US and European contexts," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 113-122.
    17. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2020. "Commuting and self-employment in Western Europe," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    18. Yu, Haitao & Jiao, Junfeng & Houston, Eric & Peng, Zhong-Ren, 2018. "Evaluating the relationship between rail transit and industrial agglomeration: An observation from the Dallas-fort worth region, TX," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 33-52.
    19. Balzhan Serikbayeva & Kanat Abdulla, 2022. "Education-Job Mismatch: Implications for Individual Earnings and Aggregate Output," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 723-752, September.
    20. Sung-Tae Lee & Sun-Moon Jung, 2023. "Is Your Degree Worth It? Education-Job Transferability and Job Satisfaction of ICT Workers," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:93:y:2021:i:c:s0966692321001253. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-transport-geography .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.