How Far and For How Much? Evidence on Wages and Potential Travel-to-Work Distances from a Survey of the Economically Inactive

Paul L. Latreille (), David H. Blackaby (), Philip D. Murphy (), Nigel O'Leary () and Peter James Sloane
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David H. Blackaby: University of Wales Swansea
Philip D. Murphy: University of Wales Swansea
Nigel O'Leary: University of Wales Swansea

No 1976, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Abstract: The U.K. government has recently committed itself to an ambitious 80 per cent employment rate target. Recognising that achieving this aspiration will require significant numbers of the economically inactive to (re-)engage with the labour market, the government has enacted various policy reforms seeking to encourage those on the fringes of the labour market to do so. The present paper uses unique survey data to examine three factors relevant to these issues, namely the desire to work, minimum acceptable wages and the distance the inactive are prepared to travel to work for a given minimum acceptable wage offer.

Keywords: economic inactivity; reservation wages; travel-to-work distances (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J21 J22 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-lab
Date: 2006-02
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