CREDIT Development Seminar: Kate Vyborny (Duke University)

Transport, urban labor markets, and women's mobility (with Erica Field) 

Abstract:  In many contexts with conservative norms or high crime, female workers may face greater restrictions on their physical mobility within the city.  This limits women's opportunities in the labor market and the pool of workers that firms can attract and retain.  In this study, we test the overall impact of transport to work on men, women, and the differential impact for women of women's-only transport.  We experimentally vary access to a subscription service for daily commuting, and study how this affects job search.  In preliminary results of the study, we find that female jobseekers' probability of applying to a position increases substantially when the job is accessible by the commuting service, while male jobseekers' decisions are unaffected.  Women respond to both mixed-gender and women's-only transport offers, but the impact of the women's-only transport offer on the application rate is larger, suggesting that avoiding harassment and stigma play an important role in mobility constraints on female labor supply.