A workplace choice model accounting for spatial competition and agglomeration effects

Abstract

This paper develops a new model of workplace choice for the Sydney Greater Metropolitan Area (SGMA) and describes the way in which this model is integrated into a general modelling framework of MetroScan, an improved version of the Transportation and Environment Strategy Impact Simulator Transportation (TRESIS). The developed model accounts for spatial competition of alternative workplaces via accessibility variables measured to attractions of both the same and different types. The new model also has two new refinements. First, a much finer geographical level is used for modelling worker's choice of workplace given the location of firms and the distribution of jobs. Second, an employment agglomeration effect is incorporated by the inclusion of jobs in the industry class relevant to the worker and two accessibility measures. Modelling analysis on data collected from a survey conducted in Sydney in 2013 identifies highly significant spatial competition and employment agglomeration effects explaining workplace choice. The application of this model to analyse policy relating to the redistribution or growth of jobs within a general framework of MetroScan is discussed.