Abstract

This paper studies the role of commuting costs in shaping labor market power and the allocation of workers to firms. I build, identify, and estimate a two-sided labor market matching model that features strategic interactions in wage setting, commuting costs, and residential choice. I use the model to study the direct and distributional consequences of a commuting cost shock due to a subway expansion in Vancouver. Empirically, workers who gained improved access to the subway network experienced an increase in earnings by 1.5-2% relative to workers with no change in access. Using the estimated model, I show that the expansion improved access to more productive firms for workers in affected areas, but increased competition for high-productivity jobs for workers elsewhere. Neighborhoods with improved access experienced an 8% drop in labor market concentration. These results show that improvements in access to firms for some neighborhoods can generate adverse spillover effects for others due to higher competition amongst workers. To underscore the role of differential job access in shaping labor market power, I show that 10-15% of the spatial variation in wage markdowns can be explained by the non-uniform access to firms within a commuting zone.