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Title: Commuting, Work Hours, and the Metropolitan Labor Supply Gradient

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2004

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Abstract: This paper empirically investigates the relationship between labor supply and commuting. Standard urban and labor models both predict that work hours should decline as commuting increases. This study tests both types of models but emphasizes the urban model, which provides a framework more amenable to overcoming the simultaneity bias inherent in the relationship between labor supply and commuting. Taking a three-part empirical approach to analyzing the behavior of prime-age male workers in the 1980 and 2000 U.S. Census Public Use Microdata Samples, I test the urban model while calculating commuting journey endpoints (distance) with two distinct methods and the labor model treating commuting time (time) as a singular quantity without regard to endpoints. The three methods produce similar results: even when correcting for the endogeneity of residence location or commuting, work hours increase with increases in commuting. In the context of the urban model, this suggests that prime-age males strongly substitute housing consumption for leisure time.

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Authors: Gubits, Daniel B.

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Institution: Johns Hopkins University

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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