Estimation and validation of a microscopic model for spatial economic effects of transport infrastructure

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2009

Authors

Michiel de Bok (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

Vol. 43 No. 1

Pages: 44-59

ISSN: 0965-8564

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Science

Scopus

COMPENDEX

INSPEC

Scientific classification

FOS: Engineering and technology

CORDIS: Technological sciences

Other information

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2008.06.002

Abstract (EN): The spatial economic effects in integrated land use and transport models are increasingly disaggregate and can benefit from improved knowledge into the effect of accessibility and agglomeration on the spatial behaviour of firms. This article strives to contribute to this knowledge by first analysing the influence of accessibility and agglomeration on firm behaviour with exceptionally detailed firm data for the province of South Holland in The Netherlands. Next the added value of incorporating such effects in urban simulation models is tested with two series of validation runs with a microscopic model for firm dynamics. The presented Spatial Firm-demographic Micro-simulation (SFM) model simulates transitions and events in the firm population, including firm relocations, firm growth, firm dissolution and firm formation. Accessibility is measured with proximity to infrastructure access points and logsums of business and commuting trips from a transport model. Agglomeration measures are based on theories from urban economics and integrate travel time range bands into measures for specialisation and diversification. Estimation results confirm a significant influence of accessibility and agglomeration on the choice behaviour of firms. Application of these measures prove to increase the validity of the firm-demographic simulation model to a significant but modest extend.

Language: Portuguese

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific