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Driving up wages: the effects of road construction in Great Britain

Sanchis-Guarner, Rosa (2012) Driving up wages: the effects of road construction in Great Britain. SERC Discussion Papers (SERCDP0120). Spatial Economics Research Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

This paper estimates the effects of road construction on individual labour market outcomes using micro-data from Great Britain between 2002 and 2008. To capture these effects, I use a measure of accessibility to employment through the road network at a very detailed geographical level. I test the effect of accessibility changes on weekly wages and hours worked. In order to tackle potential sources of bias, I use an instrumental variable which exploits the variation in employment accessibility stemming only from changes in minimum travel times between locations. I argue that, conditional on controls, small scale spatial variation in the accessibility impact of road construction can be considered to be exogenous because road schemes are aimed to improve connectivity and reduce congestion for wider and more distant areas. I further use home and work location specific individual fixed-effects to control for endogenous sorting of workers and I also restrict the sample to workers who are located very close to the projects. I find a positive impact of accessibility from work location on weekly wages and total hours worked but no effect of accessibility from home neither on wages nor hours, conditional on commuting time. These effects are not due to selection into employment as a result of road construction. I also find evidence of accessibility from home reducing commuting travel time. Increased spatial competition or agglomeration externalities are potential explanations for the findings.

Item Type: Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL: http://www.spatialeconomics.ac.uk/SERC/publication...
Additional Information: © 2012 The Author
Divisions: Grantham Research Institute
Spatial Economics Research Centre
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
JEL classification: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs > J31 - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials by Skill, Training, Occupation, etc.
O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O18 - Regional, Urban, and Rural Analyses
R - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R12 - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade
Date Deposited: 28 Jul 2014 09:02
Last Modified: 13 Sep 2024 20:22
Funders: Economic and Social Research Council, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), Welsh Assembly Government
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/58318

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