Job access, workplace mobility, and occupational achievement

Abstract

Are career opportunities influenced by the place where you live? Does it help your career if you accept a job at a longer distance? What is the best place to live if you want to combine maximum career opportunities with a minimum of commuting and migration costs?

Job access, workplace mobility, and occupational achievement provides a theoretical framework on the effects of geographical barriers on occupational achievement using a spatial elaboration of the human capital theory. An approach which places the choice of work location in perspective of the labour career of individuals.

The central idea developed is twofold. First, the location of residence in combination with the spatial flexibility of workers determines the opportunity set, and therefore the possibilities for occupational achievement. Second, workplace mobility can serve as an instrument to overcome a poor opportunity set and therefore as an instrument for occupational achievement. The empirical results show that workers who live in locations with good access to employment opportunities get better jobs. It is also shown that accepting a job at a longer distance pays off.