Skills, transport and economic development: evidence from a rural area in England

David Owen, Terence Hogarth and Anne E. Green

Journal of Transport Geography, 2012, vol. 21, issue C, 80-92

Abstract: This article explores the impact of low population density and transport constraints on skills development and the take up of learning and training opportunities in a rural area of eastern England. It draws on analyses of secondary data sources, qualitative interviews and a focus group discussion with employers, trainers and other actors in the labour market, and a survey of young people in their penultimate year of compulsory schooling. Using the concept of the ‘low skills equilibrium’, it discusses how a relatively poor transport infrastructure and a dispersed population combine to present challenges for local economic development. It concludes that transport and travel play a crucial ‘cause’ and ‘effect’ role in exacerbating poor skills and low productivity, through thwarting attempts to improve access to learning and training that would help the local economy to achieve higher levels of productivity and economic growth.

Keywords: Local economic development; Low skills equilibrium; Rural; Training; Transport; Travel-to-learn (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692312000191

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jotrge:v:21:y:2012:i:c:p:80-92

DOI: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.01.015

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Transport Geography is currently edited by Frank Witlox

More articles in Journal of Transport Geography from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().