DO CHANGES IN GDP INFLUENCE COMMUTING DISTANCES? A STUDY OF SWEDISH COMMUTING PATTERNS BETWEEN 1990 AND 2006

Several studies have analysed the relationships between individuals' commuting distances and individual characteristics, discrimination, societal structure and planning. Largely left unexplored, however, are the long-term relationships between changes in the economic cycle and the effects on individual commuting distances. Using regression analyses, this study focuses on the relationship between changes in GDP and commuters' response reflected in commuting distances. The empirical data consist of records of almost 12 million Swedish commuting events between 1990 and 2006. Results of the analyses indicate that changes in GDP growth rate have an impact on commuting distances, especially for younger workers, the recently unemployed and commuters in metropolitan areas.

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