Exogenous Workplace Choice in Residential Location Models: Is the Assumption Valid?

Abstract

This paper examines the assumption implicit in most models of residential location that the choice of workplace is exogenously determined. Monocentric models have generally made this assumption, but it has come under increasing scrutiny. A nested logit model of workers' choices of workplace, residence, and housing tenure within the Dallas‐Fort Worth metropolitan area is developed to provide a test. A unique dataset that includes the workplace and residence census tracts of workers in Dallas‐Fort Worth, and their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, is used to estimate the model. The results confirm that a joint choice specification better represents actual choice behavior in a multinodal metropolis.