The Substitution between Moves and Quits

If a worker's workplace and residence locations do not maximize utility, quits and moves are "substitutes"; a quit or a move alone is more likely than both together. Records of a single company confirm this. Simultaneous bivariate probit estimates of move and quit behavior demonstrate that uncontrolled shocks to quits and moves are negatively correlated. Furthermore, when the company relocated from the central business district to a suburb of its metropolitan area, the occurrence of either a quit or a move virtually precluded the occurrence of the other among employees whose journeys-to-work were lengthened by the relocation.