Policy Research Working Paper10701Gender-Specific Transportation Costs and Female Time UseEvidence from India’s Pink Slip ProgramYutong Chen Kerem Cosar Devaki Ghose Shirish Mahendru Sheetal SekhriDevelopment Economics Development Research GroupFebruary 2024 Public Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedProduced by the Research Support TeamAbstractThe Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.Policy Research Working Paper 10701This paper estimates a synthetic difference-in-differences specification on the roll-out of a program providing free bus transit for women in several Indian states, to examine the impact on women’s time allocation and labor supply. Household expenditures on buses fall and women save time on travel. However, there is substantial heterogeneity. Skilled employed women increase labor supply and reduce time on household chores. Low-skilled married women increase time on household activities and reduce labor supply. Unemployed women increase job search with no effect on employment. The findings show that gender roles within households undermine the effect of gender-specific travel subsidies on female labor supply.This paper is a product of the Development Research Group, Development Economics. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world. Policy Research Working Papers are also posted on the Web at http://www.worldbank.org/prwp. The authors may be contacted at dghose@worldbank.org. GENDER-SPECIFIC TRANSPORTATION COSTS AND FEMALETIME USE: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA’S PINK SLIP PROGRAM*Yutong Chen†Kerem Co¸sar‡Devaki Ghose§Shirish Mahendru¶Sheetal Sekhri‖Keywords: Transport, Gender, Time-Use, Female Labor Force ParticipationJEL codes: J16, J22, R41*We thank the UVA department of economics for financial support. For helpful comments and feedback, wethank S Anukriti and the Office of the Chief Economist, South Asia Region.†yc3jk@virginia.edu (University of Virginia)‡kerem.cosar@virginia.edu (University of Virginia, CEPR, CESifo, NBER)§dghose@worldbank.org (Development Economics Research Group, The World Bank). The views expressedin this paper do not represent t...
