Take It Easy! How Flexible Work Arrangements Bust the Commuting Life Satisfaction Nexus

Abstract

Commuting to work can negatively affect people's well-being. This paper analyzes the effect of commuting distance on subjective well-being for employees under different work time regimes. The analysis is based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for 2003–2021. The causal effect of commuting distance is identified by quasi-experimental changes for employees who experience firm relocation. Accounting for idiosyncratic unobserved effects, the results suggest that the loss in life satisfaction is about two and a half times higher for employees in non-flexible work arrangements than for those in a flexible work regime.