Commuting Time and Sick-Day Absence of US Workers

José Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal (), José Alberto Molina and Jorge Velilla ()
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José Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal: University of Zaragoza
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Jose Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal ()

No 11700, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper analyzes the relationship between commuting time and sick-day absence of US workers. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for the years 2011, 2013, and 2015, we find that a 1% increase in the daily commute of male workers is associated with an increase of around 0.018% in sick-day absences per year. In the case of women, the relationship is not significant. These results hold after controlling for individual fixed effects and socio-demographic characteristics, changes in jobs and places of residence, and differences in the self-reported health status of workers. By determining how commuting time is related to sickness absenteeism, we shed light on the relationship between commuting behavior and workers' health-related outcomes, measured by their labour supply.

Keywords: commuting time; sickness absence; health-related outcomes; labour supply (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 J22 R2 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 pages
Date: 2018-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-lma and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published in: Empirica, 2022, 49, 691 - 719

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