[go: up one dir, main page]

IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp16279.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Pro-environment Attitudes and Worker Commuting Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio

    (University of Zaragoza)

  • Molina, José Alberto

    (University of Zaragoza)

  • Velilla, Jorge

    (University of Zaragoza)

Abstract
The private vehicle is, for most developed countries, the prevalent commuting mode of workers, and one of the main source of CO2 emissions. The choice of the mode of transport for commuting trips clearly depends on individual preferences, and it may be that pro-environmental attitudes and values are related to environmental awareness and minimization of harm to the environment. This paper explores how pro-environmental attitudes and values relate to commuting behaviors, using data from the American Time Use Survey for the period 2003-2019. We focus on the time spent commuting, and on commuting modes. The results show that, net of observable factors, regions in which social attitudes are more pro-environmental are related to longer commuting times, but also to a higher percentage of active commuters and public transit commuters. These results suggest that policies aimed at shifting pro-environmental social values may help in reducing the use of private vehicles and encourage green means of transport, in order to reduce the environmental costs of commuting.

Suggested Citation

  • Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2023. "Pro-environment Attitudes and Worker Commuting Behavior," IZA Discussion Papers 16279, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16279
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp16279.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lange, Florian & Dewitte, Siegfried, 2020. "Positive affect and pro-environmental behavior: A preregistered experiment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Thomas Le Barbanchon & Roland Rathelot & Alexandra Roulet, 2021. "Gender Differences in Job Search: Trading off Commute against Wage," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(1), pages 381-426.
    3. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette, 2017. "Social Norms and Pro-environmental Behavior: A Review of the Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Peter Ruppert & Elena Stancanelli & Etienne Wasmer, 2009. "Commuting, Wages and Bargaining Power," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 95-96, pages 201-220.
    5. Carta, Francesca & De Philippis, Marta, 2018. "You've come a long way, baby. Husbands' commuting time and family labour supply," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 25-37.
    6. Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio & Sevilla, Almudena, 2012. "Trends in time allocation: A cross-country analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1338-1359.
    7. Ross, Stephen L. & Zenou, Yves, 2008. "Are shirking and leisure substitutable? An empirical test of efficiency wages based on urban economic theory," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 498-517, September.
    8. Roberts, Jennifer & Hodgson, Robert & Dolan, Paul, 2011. "“It's driving her mad”: Gender differences in the effects of commuting on psychological health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1064-1076.
    9. Ko, Joonho & Lee, Sugie & Byun, Miree, 2019. "Exploring factors associated with commute mode choice: An application of city-level general social survey data," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 36-46.
    10. Georg Gottholmseder & Klaus Nowotny & Gerald J. Pruckner & Engelbert Theurl, 2009. "Stress perception and commuting," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(5), pages 559-576, May.
    11. repec:adr:anecst:y:2009:i:95-96:p:11 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2021. "Two-way commuting: Asymmetries from time use surveys," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    13. Crane, Randall, 2007. "Is There a Quiet Revolution in Women's Travel? Revisiting the Gender Gap in Commuting," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt8nj9n8nb, University of California Transportation Center.
    14. 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.
    15. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst, 2007. "Measuring Trends in Leisure: The Allocation of Time Over Five Decades," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 969-1006.
    16. Man Kan, 2008. "Measuring Housework Participation: The Gap between “Stylised” Questionnaire Estimates and Diary-based Estimates," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 381-400, May.
    17. Westin, Kerstin & Sandow, Erika, 2010. "People’s preferences for commuting in sparsely populated areas: The case of Sweden," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 2(3), pages 87-107.
    18. Manning, Alan, 2003. "The real thin theory: monopsony in modern labour markets," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 105-131, April.
    19. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal, J. & Molina, Jose Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2018. "The commuting behavior of workers in the United States: Differences between the employed and the self-employed," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 19-29.
    20. Schmitt, Michael T. & Aknin, Lara B. & Axsen, Jonn & Shwom, Rachael L., 2018. "Unpacking the Relationships Between Pro-environmental Behavior, Life Satisfaction, and Perceived Ecological Threat," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 130-140.
    21. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette, 2017. "Social Norms and Pro-environmental Behavior: A Review of the Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-13.
    22. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano, 2010. "The power of the family," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 93-125, June.
    23. Morton O’Kelly & Michael Niedzielski & Justin Gleeson, 2012. "Spatial interaction models from Irish commuting data: variations in trip length by occupation and gender," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 357-387, October.
    24. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/10031 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Billor, Nedret & Hadi, Ali S. & Velleman, Paul F., 2000. "BACON: blocked adaptive computationally efficient outlier nominators," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 279-298, September.
    26. Poortinga, Wouter & Steg, Linda & Vlek, Charles & Wiersma, Gerwin, 2003. "Household preferences for energy-saving measures: A conjoint analysis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 49-64, February.
    27. Welsch, Heinz & Kühling, Jan, 2010. "Pro-environmental behavior and rational consumer choice: Evidence from surveys of life satisfaction," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 405-420, June.
    28. repec:adr:anecst:y:2012:i:105-106:p:12 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    30. Kirby, Dustin K. & LeSage, James P., 2009. "Changes in commuting to work times over the 1990 to 2000 period," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 460-471, July.
    31. Gigi Foster & Charlene M. Kalenkoski, 2013. "Tobit or OLS? An empirical evaluation under different diary window lengths," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(20), pages 2994-3010, July.
    32. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/10031 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Echeverría, Lucía & Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2022. "Green mobility and well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    34. Elena Grinza & François Rycx, 2020. "The Impact of Sickness Absenteeism on Firm Productivity: New Evidence from Belgian Matched Employer–Employee Panel Data," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 150-194, January.
    35. van Ommeren, Jos N. & van der Straaten, J. Willemijn, 2008. "The effect of search imperfections on commuting behaviour: Evidence from employed and self-employed workers," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 127-147, March.
    36. Harley Frazis & Jay Stewart, 2012. "How to Think about Time-Use Data: What Inferences Can We Make about Long- and Short-Run Time Use from Time Diaries?," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 105-106, pages 231-245.
    37. Wijbenga, Frits H. & van Witteloostuijn, Arjen, 2007. "Entrepreneurial locus of control and competitive strategies - The moderating effect of environmental dynamism," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 566-589, October.
    38. Bun Song Lee & John F. McDonald, 2003. "Determinants of Commuting Time and Distance for Seoul Residents: The Impact of Family Status on the Commuting of Women," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(7), pages 1283-1302, June.
    39. Yusak Susilo & Kees Maat, 2007. "The influence of built environment to the trends in commuting journeys in the Netherlands," Transportation, Springer, vol. 34(5), pages 589-609, September.
    40. Hong, Sung Hyo & Lee, Bun Song & McDonald, John F., 2018. "Commuting time decisions for two-worker households in Korea," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 122-129.
    41. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2022. "Trends in commuting time of European workers: A cross-country analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 327-342.
    42. Gerike, Regine & Gehlert, Tina & Leisch, Friedrich, 2015. "Time use in travel surveys and time use surveys – Two sides of the same coin?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 4-24.
    43. Jens Bonke, 2005. "Paid Work and Unpaid Work: Diary Information Versus Questionnaire Information," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 70(3), pages 349-368, February.
    44. repec:adr:anecst:y:2012:i:105-106:p:11 is not listed on IDEAS
    45. Paola Giuliano & Antonio Spilimbergo, 2014. "Growing up in a Recession," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 787-817.
    46. Matthew E. Kahn, 2000. "The environmental impact of suburbanization," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 569-586.
    47. Ababio-Donkor, Augustus & Saleh, Wafaa & Fonzone, Achille, 2020. "The role of personal norms in the choice of mode for commuting," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    48. Gutiérrez-i-Puigarnau, Eva & van Ommeren, Jos N., 2010. "Labour supply and commuting," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 82-89, July.
    49. Long, Jiancheng & Szeto, W.Y., 2019. "Congestion and environmental toll schemes for the morning commute with heterogeneous users and parallel routes," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 305-333.
    50. Dargay, Joyce M. & Clark, Stephen, 2012. "The determinants of long distance travel in Great Britain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 576-587.
    51. Jonathan Gershuny, 2012. "Too Many Zeros: A Method for Estimating Long-Term Time-Use from Short Diaries," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 105-106, pages 247-270.
    52. Comerford, David A., 2011. "Attenuating focalism in affective forecasts of the commuting experience: Implications for economic decisions and policy making," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 691-699.
    53. Juan Carlos Campaña & Jose Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & Jorge Velilla, 2023. "Measuring Gender Gaps in Time Allocation in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 519-553, January.
    54. Richard Wener & Gary Evans & Donald Phillips & Natasha Nadler, 2003. "Running for the 7:45: The effects of public transit improvements on commuter stress," Transportation, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 203-220, May.
    55. Antony Millner & Simon Dietz & Geoffrey Heal, 2013. "Scientific Ambiguity and Climate Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 55(1), pages 21-46, May.
    56. Peter Rupert & Elena Stancanelli & Etienne Wasmer, 2009. "Commuting, Wages and Bargaining Power," SciencePo Working papers hal-00972825, HAL.
    57. José Ignacio Giménez†Nadal & José Alberto Molina & Jorge Velilla, 2018. "Spatial distribution of US employment in an urban efficiency wage setting," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 141-158, January.
    58. Ones, Deniz S. & Dilchert, Stephan, 2012. "Environmental Sustainability at Work: A Call to Action," Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(4), pages 444-466, December.
    59. Grunert, Suzanne C. & Juhl, Hans Jorn, 1995. "Values, environmental attitudes, and buying of organic foods," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 39-62, March.
    60. Marta Suárez-Varela & Ariel Dinar, 2020. "The Role of Curtailment Versus Efficiency on Spillovers Among Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Evidence from Two Towns in Granada, Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-24, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2022. "Trends in commuting time of European workers: A cross-country analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 327-342.
    2. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2021. "Two-way commuting: Asymmetries from time use surveys," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Velilla, Jorge & Ortega, Raquel, 2022. "Revisiting excess commuting and self-employment: The case of Latin America," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1179, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. José Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina & Jorge Velilla, 2024. "Intermediate activities while commuting," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1185-1220, September.
    5. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2020. "Elderly's Mobility to and from Work in the US: Metropolitan Status and Population Size," IZA Discussion Papers 13949, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Belloc, Ignacio, 2021. "El tiempo de desplazamiento al lugar de trabajo en el Reino Unido: Diferencias entre asalariados y autoempleados [Commuting time in the United Kingdom: Differences between wage-earners and self-emp," MPRA Paper 108260, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2020. "Commuting and self-employment in Western Europe," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal, J. & Molina, Jose Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2018. "The commuting behavior of workers in the United States: Differences between the employed and the self-employed," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 19-29.
    9. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Velilla, Jorge & Ortega-Lapiedra, Raquel, 2024. "Differences in commuting between employee and self-employed workers: The case of Latin America," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    10. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2018. "Commuting Time and Sick-Day Absence of US Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 11700, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2015. "Excess Commuting in the US: Differences between the Self-Employed and Employees," IZA Discussion Papers 9425, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2024. "Commuting, Wages, and Household Behavior," IZA Discussion Papers 17128, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Juan Carlos Campaña & J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal, 2024. "Gender Gaps in Commuting Time: Evidence from Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 596-620, September.
    14. J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina, 2016. "Commuting Time And Household Responsibilities: Evidence Using Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 332-359, March.
    15. J. I. Gimenez-Nadal & J. A. Molina & J. Velilla, 2022. "Commuting time and sickness absence of US workers," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 49(3), pages 691-719, August.
    16. José M. Casado-Díaz & Raquel Simón-Albert & Hipólito Simón, 2023. "Gender Differences in Commuting: New Evidence from Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 907-941, October.
    17. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2022. "School commuting behaviors: A time-use exploration," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1194, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Echeverría, Lucía & Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2021. "Carpooling: User Profiles and Well-being," IZA Discussion Papers 14736, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2016. "Commuting Time and Sex Ratios in the US," IZA Discussion Papers 9933, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Echeverría, Lucía & Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2023. "Commuting in dual-earner households: International Gender Differences with Time Use Surveys," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1307, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    pro-environmental attitudes; commuting time; transport mode; American Time Use Survey; American Values Survey; general social survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:iza:izadps:dp16279. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.