Rail Transit Shocks and Labor Supply
Publication Date
4-21-2021
Grant Type
Early Career Research Award
Description
US cities are making substantial investments in rail transit as a way to improve local labor market outcomes through reduced commuting costs and improved worker-firm matching. Investment in transport infrastructure affects commuting times but also impacts the decisions of where workers choose to live. Estimating the aggregate labor supply effect of rail transit is complicated by the endogeneity of worker neighborhood choice. I propose to leverage methodological advances in structural estimation and newly available data sources to estimate how transit expansions affect labor supply. I propose a study focused on the opening of a large rail system in Honolulu, Hawaii.
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