Commuting Time and Household Responsibilities: Evidence Using Propensity Score Matching

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

No 8794, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The growth in women's participation in the labor force has attracted attention to the gender differences in commuting behavior, and to their implications. This study analyses the relationship between individual commuting behavior and household responsibilities, with a focus on gender differences in that relationship. Using the Dutch Time Use Surveys for the years 2000 and 2005, we analyze the relationship between commuting time, and the time devoted to home production and childcare. To deal with reverse causality, we use Propenstity Score Matching techniques to obtain imputed data for individuals. After reverse causality is taken into account, we find that the effect of home production on commuting time for women is more than double the effect for men, while childcare time has an effect on women's commuting time behavior only. Our results explain why prior studies have found that women have shorter commutes than men, shedding light on the Household Responsibility Hypothesis (HRH).

Keywords: propensity score matching; childcare; home production; commuting; Multinational Time Use Study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J16 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2015-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: Journal of Regional Science, 2016, 56 (2), 332 - 359

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Related works:
Journal Article: COMMUTING TIME AND HOUSEHOLD RESPONSIBILITIES: EVIDENCE USING PROPENSITY SCORE MATCHING (2016)
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