Measures of labour market accessibility: What can we learn from observed commuting patterns?

It is well known that measures of labour market accessibility explain spatial variation in housing prices, even in markets with polycentric labour market structures. This paper examines whether data on observed commuting patterns can replace or supplement gravity-based measures representing the commuting potential at specific locations. We use data from a region in Western Norway, and we find that measures based on observed commuting flows and commuting time cannot replace a gravity-based measure of labour market accessibility. Based on, inter alia, the spatial Durbin estimator we find that measures of observed commuting flows increase the explanatory power of a hedonic house price model.