A joint analysis of residential location, work location and commuting mode choices in Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

The influence of land use policy on people's residential and travel choices may be overestimated because of self-selection effects. In the context of commuting, neighborhood and travel preferences may induce self-selection effects in choices about residential location, work location, and commuting mode. Presumably, such self-selection effects may vary across different job markets. To date, however, no study has been done in developing countries. Therefore, this study aims to fill this research gap by using data collected in Hanoi, Vietnam. A joint model with the above three choices is built by incorporating self-selection effects, where effects of land use attributes are emphasized. Choices of labor-intensive workers (11,344) and knowledge-intensive workers (12,360) are compared. The statistical significance of multiple self-selection effects is confirmed, which suggests that the joint estimation of the above three choices is a useful approach. As for the magnitude of influence of self-selection effects, self-selection seems to be more influential in knowledge-intensive workers' residential location and work location choices. As for land use attributes, different types of households, and labor-intensive and knowledge-intensive workers show different responses to different types of land in location choices (especially the work location choice). Effects of land use diversity and population density on the commuting mode choice are mixed. Additionally, the centralization of knowledge-intensive employment and decentralization of labor-intensive employment are captured. These findings may be useful for city planners in Hanoi in designing land use patterns in the future in order to keep knowledge-intensive workers working and living close together.