Persistence of commuting habits: Context effects in Germany

Ramona Jost
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Ramona Jost: Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany

No 202014, IAB-Discussion Paper from Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]

Abstract: "Based on the geo-referenced data, I analyse the commuting behaviour of employees in Germany. With the help of a behavioural economic approach, which is based on the investigation of Simonsohn (2006) for the US, I can show that it is not only the wage and the individual heterogeneity that shape commuting decisions. Instead, the commuting behaviour depends on the context individuals observe in the past. In particular, I demonstrate that the commuting behaviour is influenced by past-observed commutes: Worker choose longer commuting times in a region they just moved to, the longer the average commute was in the region they moved away. This effect applies especially for older employees, but is the same for men and women. Moreover, my robustness checks indicate that individual heterogeneity, selectivity or endogeneity issues do not drive this effect. In addition, I show if individuals stay in the new region, the effect of the previous region disappears, as workers adapt the commuting behaviour of the new region and move again within the new region. This is consistent with the prediction of behavioural economic theory, but refuses the assumption of stable taste differences." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Keywords: Bundesrepublik Deutschland; Auswirkungen; Berufspendler; Binnenwanderung; Entscheidungskriterium; geschlechtsspezifische Faktoren; Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien; Lohnhöhe; altersspezifische Faktoren; Mobilitätsbereitschaft; Persistenz; regionale Faktoren; regionale Mobilität; Verhaltenstheorie; Arbeitsort; Wohnort; Arbeitsplatzwahl; Arbeitsweg; 2000-2014 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J60 R10 R19 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2020-05-20
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-geo, nep-lab and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in/as: The Annals of Regional Science, doi:10.1007/s00168-023-01223-4

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iab:iabdpa:202014

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