Transport networks and accessibility: complex spatial interactions

A worker might respond to an unfortunate local labour market situation by commuting or migrating to a zone with better prospects. This decision depends on the labour market accessibility of the worker’s current residential location. A spatial equilibrium model is applied to analyse the interactions between commuting, migration, firm relocation and accessibility. The analysis is based on numerical examples, experimenting with characteristics of the transportation network and the spatial distribution of jobs. We study how the effects of such shocks depend on behavioural responses to different aspects of labour market accessibility. We also study the cumulative causation aspect of accessibility, whereby highly accessible areas attract jobs and workers, further enhancing the accessibility of such zones.