How Does Improvement in Commuting Affect Employees? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lu, Yao; Shi, Xinzheng; Sivadasan, Jagadeesh; Xu, Zhufeng
• 署名单位: Tsinghua University; Central University of Finance & Economics
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01138
• 发表日期: 2024-01
• 页码: 53-67
• 关键词: industrialization evidence; PRODUCTIVITY; railroads; subways; workers

摘要

We collect worker month-level panel data from two companies in Beijing for a two-year period before and after the opening of a nearby subway station, which significantly improved public transportation commutes for some workers. We find a significant difference-in-differences increase (12.6% of the standard deviation) in bonus pay, which is strongly correlated to worker-level performance measures, for affected workers relative to unaffected coworkers. We find no evidence that the improved performance is a result of affected workers spending extra time at the workplace. We find suggestive evidence for a relative decline in turnover, consistent with a gain in utility for affected workers.