Commuting, Migration, and Local Employment Elasticities

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2018
Volume: 108
Issue: 12
Pages: 3855-90

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We provide theory and evidence that the elasticity of local employment to a labor demand shock is heterogeneous depending on the commuting openness of the local labor market. We develop a quantitative general equilibrium model that incorporates spatial linkages in goods markets (trade) and factor markets (commuting and migration). We quantify this model to match the observed gravity equation relationships for trade and commuting. We find that empirically-observed reductions in commuting costs generate welfare gains of around 3.3 percent. We provide separate quasi-experimental evidence in support of the model's predictions using the location decisions of million dollar plants.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:108:y:2018:i:12:p:3855-90
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-26