So Far Away? Hiring Discrimination against Female Commuters

Sascha Becker, Ana Fernandes, Nurlan Lalayev and Doris Weichselbaumer

No 21935, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We study gender differences in employers' responses to commuting distance using data from a large-scale correspondence test in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. A 10 km increase in driving distance reduces women’s probability of receiving an interview invitation by 1.8 percentage points, around 9 percent of the mean female invitation rate, while commuting distance has no corresponding effect for men. The gender difference is statistically significant and robust to alternative distance measures and thresholds, firms’ rural or urban location, and local labor-market tightness. The female distance penalty does not vary detectably with applicants' reported marital status or the presence of children, providing no support for screening based on these observed indicators of household responsibilities.

Keywords: Commuting; Germany; Switzerland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 J16 J61 J71 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-09
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