Firm heterogeneity and the accessibility of manufacturing firms to labour markets

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a measure of geographic accessibility of firms to labour markets. This measure is computed from the microeconomic perspective, avoiding ex ante imposition of administrative boundaries and including the individual characteristics of firms and workers along with the geographical environment and the urban structure of territories through the estimation of particular impedance functions. Computation is done using microdata on more than 60,000 Spanish manufacturing firms and over a million workers' commutes across the full road transport infrastructure network (urban and intercity). We estimate impedance functions that incorporate the specific characteristics of firms and workers. Results show notable accessibility differences across firms due not just to their geographic location but also to their intrinsic industry characteristics and the strategies that they follow.