[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v156y2022icp14-23.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Working from home during the corona-crisis is associated with higher subjective well-being for women with long (pre-corona) commutes

Author

Listed:
  • Kroesen, Maarten
Abstract
Much research has been devoted to assessing the effect of commute duration on the subjective well-being of people, but as of yet, the respective body or research has been inconclusive as to whether there is indeed a (large) negative effect or not. To control the spread of COVID-19 governments around the world have taken unprecedented measures to control the outbreak of the Corona-virus. Forcing or strongly advising people to work from home (i.e. at least those who can) is often one of these. The ensuing situation can be considered a natural experiment; the government’s intervention effectively cancels people’s commuting trip and can be considered completely exogenous. Should commuting time indeed have an adverse effect on well-being, it may be expected that those workers with long (pre-corona) commutes who have transitioned to working from home will experience an increase in their well-being. This idea is tested by combining several surveys -timed before and after the crisis- from the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social sciences (LISS) panel, a panel that is representative of the Dutch population. In line with expectations, the results indicate that workers with a long commuting duration who transitioned to working from home indeed increased their subjective well-being. However, this effect was found to be significant only for women and not for men. A more general finding of interest is that subjective well-being did not change much between the measurements before and during the corona-crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Kroesen, Maarten, 2022. "Working from home during the corona-crisis is associated with higher subjective well-being for women with long (pre-corona) commutes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 14-23.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:156:y:2022:i:c:p:14-23
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2021.10.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856421003232
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2021.10.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Salomon, Ilan, 2001. "How derived is the demand for travel? Some conceptual and measurement considerations," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 695-719, September.
    2. Alois Stutzer & Bruno S. Frey, 2008. "Stress that Doesn't Pay: The Commuting Paradox," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(2), pages 339-366, June.
    3. Lothlorien Redmond & Patricia Mokhtarian, 2001. "The positive utility of the commute: modeling ideal commute time and relative desired commute amount," Transportation, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 179-205, May.
    4. Jain, Juliet & Lyons, Glenn, 2008. "The gift of travel time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 81-89.
    5. Nie, Peng & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2018. "Commute time and subjective well-being in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 188-204.
    6. Lorenz, Olga, 2018. "Does commuting matter to subjective well-being?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 180-199.
    7. Dolan, Paul & Layard, Richard & Metcalfe, Robert, 2011. "Measuring subjective well-being for public policy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 35420, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Dickerson, Andy & Hole, Arne Risa & Munford, Luke A., 2014. "The relationship between well-being and commuting revisited: Does the choice of methodology matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 321-329.
    9. Kiron Chatterjee & Samuel Chng & Ben Clark & Adrian Davis & Jonas De Vos & Dick Ettema & Susan Handy & Adam Martin & Louise Reardon, 2020. "Commuting and wellbeing: a critical overview of the literature with implications for policy and future research," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 5-34, January.
    10. Novaco, Raymond W. & Stokols, Daniel & Milanesi, Louis, 1990. "Objective and Subjective Dimensions Of Travel Impedance as Determinants Of Commuting Stress," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt5jq8164z, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. Novaco, Raymond W. & Stokols, Daniel & Milanesi, Louis, 1990. "Objective and Subjective Dimensions Of Travel Impedance as Determinants Of Commuting and Stress," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt10m3x16k, University of California Transportation Center.
    12. Mokhtarian, P.L., 2005. "Travel as a desired end, not just a means," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 93-96.
    13. Beck, Matthew J. & Hensher, David A. & Wei, Edward, 2020. "Slowly coming out of COVID-19 restrictions in Australia: Implications for working from home and commuting trips by car and public transport," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    14. Julia Ingenfeld & Tobias Wolbring & Herbert Bless, 2019. "Commuting and Life Satisfaction Revisited: Evidence on a Non-linear Relationship," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 2677-2709, December.
    15. Mokhtarian, Patricia L & Salomon, Ilan & S, Lothlorien, 2001. "Understanding the Demand for Travel: It's Not Purely 'Derived'," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt5bh2d8mh, University of California Transportation Center.
    16. Kroesen, Maarten & Chorus, Caspar, 2020. "A new perspective on the role of attitudes in explaining travel behavior: A psychological network model," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 82-94.
    17. Lars Olsson & Tommy Gärling & Dick Ettema & Margareta Friman & Satoshi Fujii, 2013. "Happiness and Satisfaction with Work Commute," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 255-263, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. João de Abreu e Silva, 2022. "Residential preferences, telework perceptions, and the intention to telework: insights from the Lisbon Metropolitan Area during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(S1), pages 142-161, November.
    2. Martijn J. Burger & Ruut Veenhoven, 2023. "Editorial: Special Issue on Subjective Well-being and Mental Health in the Early Days of COVID-19," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 1-8, February.
    3. Tao, Yinhua & Petrović, Ana & van Ham, Maarten, 2023. "Working from home and subjective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of pre-COVID-19 commuting distance and mode choices," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    4. Joseph Crawford, 2022. "Working from Home, Telework, and Psychological Wellbeing? A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    5. Belloc, Ignacio & Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2024. "Teleworking and Travel Purposes: UK Evidence after the COVID-19 Pandemic," IZA Discussion Papers 17413, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julia Ingenfeld & Tobias Wolbring & Herbert Bless, 2019. "Commuting and Life Satisfaction Revisited: Evidence on a Non-linear Relationship," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(8), pages 2677-2709, December.
    2. Bindong Sun & Jie Lin & Chun Yin, 2021. "How does commute duration affect subjective well-being? A case study of Chinese cities," Transportation, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 885-908, April.
    3. Tao, Yinhua & van Ham, Maarten & Petrović, Ana & Ta, Na, 2023. "A household perspective on the commuting paradox: Longitudinal relationships between commuting time and subjective wellbeing for couples in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    4. Lorenz, Olga, 2018. "Does commuting matter to subjective well-being?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 180-199.
    5. Tao, Yinhua & Petrović, Ana & van Ham, Maarten, 2023. "Working from home and subjective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of pre-COVID-19 commuting distance and mode choices," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    6. Olga Lorenz, 2017. "Does Commuting Matter to Subjective Well-Being?," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201707, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    7. Zuoxian Gan & Tao Feng & Min Yang, 2018. "Exploring the Effects of Car Ownership and Commuting on Subjective Well-Being: A Nationwide Questionnaire Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    8. Milakis, Dimitris & Cervero, Robert & van Wee, Bert & Maat, Kees, 2015. "Do people consider an acceptable travel time? Evidence from Berkeley, CA," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 76-86.
    9. Carlton Basmajian, 2010. "“Turn on the radio, bust out a song”: the experience of driving to work," Transportation, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 59-84, January.
    10. Milakis, Dimitris & van Wee, Bert, 2018. "“For me it is always like half an hour”: Exploring the acceptable travel time concept in the US and European contexts," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 113-122.
    11. Philippe Gerber & Marius Thériault & Christophe Enaux & Samuel Carpentier-Postel, 2020. "Links between Attitudes, Mode Choice, and Travel Satisfaction: A Cross-Border Long-Commute Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-20, November.
    12. Ye, Runing & De Vos, Jonas & Ma, Liang, 2020. "Analysing the association of dissonance between actual and ideal commute time and commute satisfaction," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 47-60.
    13. Nie, Peng & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2018. "Commute time and subjective well-being in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 188-204.
    14. Wang, Xize & Liu, Tao, 2022. "The Roads One Must Walk Down: Commute and Depression for Beijing’s Residents," SocArXiv dj8av, Center for Open Science.
    15. Ben Clark & Kiron Chatterjee & Adam Martin & Adrian Davis, 2020. "How commuting affects subjective wellbeing," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 2777-2805, December.
    16. Pengxiang Ding & Suwei Feng, 2022. "How School Travel Affects Children’s Psychological Well-Being and Academic Achievement in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-13, October.
    17. Friman, Margareta & Fujii, Satoshi & Ettema, Dick & Gärling, Tommy & Olsson, Lars E., 2013. "Psychometric analysis of the satisfaction with travel scale," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 132-145.
    18. Xize Wang & Tao Liu, 2022. "The Roads One Must Walk Down: Commute and Depression for Beijing's Residents," Papers 2207.07990, arXiv.org.
    19. Barbora Mazúrová & Ján Kollár & Gabriela Nedelová, 2021. "Travel Mode of Commuting in Context of Subjective Well-Being—Experience from Slovakia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, March.
    20. Peter Bäckström & Erika Sandow & Olle Westerlund, 2016. "Commuting and timing of retirement," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 56(1), pages 125-152, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:156:y:2022:i:c:p:14-23. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.