Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers
Creation-Date: 2004-09-01
Number: 04-097/3
Author-Name: Jacob J. de Vries
Author-Email: jvries@feweb.vu.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Author-Name: Peter Nijkamp
Author-Email: pnijkamp@feweb.vu.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Author-Name: Piet Rietveld
Author-Email: prietveld@feweb.vu.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Title: Exponential or Power Distance-decay for Commuting? An Alternative Specification
Abstract: In this paper we determine the effect of transport cost on commuting flows, on the basis of an analysis of home-to-work journeys between municipalities in Denmark. Special attention is given to a proper estimation method and the form of the distance-decay function. It appears that neither an exponential nor a power distance-decay function fits the data well. The specification of log trips as a (downwards) logistic function of log cost results in a better fit. We find that the cost elasticity of commuting reaches a value of –4 for distances around 24 km, while it is close to 0 for both very short and very long distances. Finally, we demonstrate that the choice of functional form for distance-decay can make an important difference for predictions concerning the effect of infrastructure improvements on commuting flows.
Classification-JEL: C21; J61; R15; R23
Keywords: Spatial Interaction; Distance-decay Function; Commuting; Denmark; Estimation; Heteroscedasticity
File-Url: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/04097.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 821136 bytes
Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20040097