Involuntary Changes in Commuting Distances: Effects on Subjective Well-Being in the Era of Mobile Internet

Katharina Bettig and Valentin Lindlacher

No 11784, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Commuting is a fundamental aspect of employees’ daily routines and continues to evolve with technological advancements. Yet the effects of commuting on subjective well-being remain insufficiently investigated in the context of expanding digital connectivity. This paper examines the causal effects of changes in commuting distance on subjective well-being in an era of widespread mobile internet availability. Exploiting exogenous shifts in commuting distance resulting from employer-driven workplace relocations, we employ a Difference-in-Differences framework using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) from 2010 to 2019. Our results show that an involuntary increase in commuting distance reduces life satisfaction by 3 percent, on average, and heightens feelings of worry by almost 8 percent, on average. Our heterogeneity analysis shows that increased mobile coverage during commutes partially mitigates the decline in life satisfaction but exacerbates the negative impact on satisfaction with leisure.

Keywords: commuting; subjective well-being; mobile coverage; life satisfaction; SOEP; panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 J28 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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