Exploring the effects of commuting on workers’ satisfaction: evidence for Spain

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between commuting time and satisfaction with different life domains. Based on data for Spain, the results show that commuting time exerts a negative impact on all areas of satisfaction for male and female workers, and that longer commutes affect women's satisfaction disproportionally. Using public transport and walking/cycling worsen this effect, as do higher degrees of urbanization and population density. According to the evidence, whose robustness is tested in several ways, the negative effect of commuting time on satisfaction is greater for lower income workers, although for them the Great Recession moderated this effect.

The commuting behaviour of self‐employed workers: Evidence for Spain

“…They find that commuting has a negative impact on the satisfaction of Spanish employees in all domains of life, regardless of sex, transport mode or business cycle phase. The findings of Simón et al () thus refute the hypothesis proposed by Stutzer and Frey () based on the microeconomic theory of location, according to which individuals should choose jobs involving longer commutes only if this is compensated for with better jobs and/or better prospects in the housing market. Therefore, although the commuting itself has a negative impact on well‐being, an overall null net effect on satisfaction should be expected.…”

“…When the estimation of the determinants of satisfaction is carried out separately for both groups of workers, it is observed that longer commutes are significantly and negatively associated with job and housing satisfaction in both cases (Table ). Accordingly, the so‐called commuting paradox is apparently also observed among the self‐employed, who seem to be as unable to optimize their global satisfaction by compensating for longer commutes with higher levels of job/housing satisfaction as employees (Simón et al, ).…”

“…Connecting with this last point, the second objective of this research is to study the impact of commuting on job and housing satisfaction, following the approach of Simón et al (). In their study, where only employees are considered, these authors use the framework proposed by Stutzer and Frey () to interpret their results.…”

“…Commuting is a phenomenon with an obvious impact on most people's daily lives, and accordingly the relationship between commuting patterns and individual satisfaction with life or with different dimensions has been empirically examined (see Simón, Casado‐Díaz, & Lillo‐Bañuls, , for a recent revision of this literature). A very suggestive way of analysis in this vein was proposed by Stutzer and Frey (), who developed a theoretical framework based on the microeconomic theory of location according to which commuting should not affect workers' overall satisfaction, since individuals would only accept longer commuting trips if these were compensated for through higher levels of utility in the workplace and/or in the housing market.…”

“…Their own results did not confirm this proposition, however (they found that commuting does have a negative impact on overall satisfaction), what led them to coin the expression “commuting paradox.” A number of subsequent studies have used this same framework to gain insight into the complex relationship between these two variables (e.g. Simón et al, ). Yet, one relevant gap in these analyses is the exclusion of self‐employed workers, which implies that the behaviour of such a relevant group remains unexplored.…”