IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v190y2024ics0965856424003057.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Working from home and commuter travel in germany – panel data analysis of long-term effects

Author

Listed:
  • Böhnen, Carina
  • Kuhnimhof, Tobias

Abstract

Working from home (WFH) is expected to be part of the ‘new normal’ in a post-pandemic future. WFH is often discussed as a contribution to climate protection, as WFH has the potential to reduce travel and emissions. However, there are also long-term rebound effects, which are under-investigated. These long-term effects are relevant for assessing the potential of new hybrid work concepts as a measure to improve sustainability. This paper aims to examine (1) the relationship between WFH, commuting distance and long-term effects by, (2a) the impact of WFH on the changes in commuting distance between 2011 and 2013, and (2b) the impact of commuting distance on the changes in WFH between 2011 and 2013. We used panel data from the ‘Families in Germany’ study (FiD) 2013 with changes to 2011. In this dataset, workers who WFH at least once per week had 29 % longer commuting distances than those who did not WFH. We found that the effects of WFH only show up years later when a change in commuting distance is pending, e.g., due to relocation. The change in commuting distances between 2011 and 2013 was 8.5 km higher for workers with constantly high WFH levels from 2011 to 2013 and a shift in commuting distance. Moreover, workers with a long commuting distance throughout the period tended to increase WFH between 2011 and 2013.

Suggested Citation

  • Böhnen, Carina & Kuhnimhof, Tobias, 2024. "Working from home and commuter travel in germany – panel data analysis of long-term effects," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:190:y:2024:i:c:s0965856424003057
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2024.104257
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856424003057
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2024.104257?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.

    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:190:y:2024:i:c:s0965856424003057. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.