Analysis of the impact of investment in transportation infrastructure and congestion in commuting on firms' location choice and productivity

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K22128
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0107:Economics, business administration, and related fields
• Research Institution: Kokugakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Adachi Yusuke 國學院大學, 経済学部, 助教 (80881242)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 郊外化 / 交通インフラ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of investments in transportation infrastructure on the location choices of consumers and firms. Congestion in commuting is one of the challenges within urban areas. This study is unique in that it is able to determine how much location choice changes when the congestion is taken into account. The results of theoretical analysis show that when congestion in commuting is taken into account, the investment in transportation infrastructure causes suburbanization of both consumers and jobs. In addition, data from the U.S. metropolitan areas support this theoretical model. In addition, data on the Tokyo metropolitan area also revealed that suburbanization of employment is occurring, especially in the tertiary industry.

Free Research Field

都市経済学、地域経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

混雑が都市圏内に与える影響についてこれまでは理論モデルの分析が多く、実際のデータからそれらのモデルが支持されるかどうかは検証されてこなかった。一方で、実データを用いた分析では混雑度合いを測る研究などが多く、消費者や企業が混雑から受ける影響も明らかになっていない。本研究は、混雑の影響が消費者や企業の立地選択に与える影響を理論モデルによる分析から明らかにし、実際のデータからそのモデルの検証を行うことを試みるものである。混雑を考慮したモデルがデータからも支持されるということを指摘した点は、新規性が高いものと考えられる。