Do gasoline price shocks during adolescence reduce driving as an adult? : a replication exercise

Severen and van Benthem (2022b) studies the effect of gasoline price changes during adolescence on driving behavior as an adult. They find that price changes at ages 15-18 lead to reduced driving during adulthood. In this comment, I replicate the effect on miles travelled using unrestricted data, test whether price decreases and increases have symmetric effects, and test for heterogeneous treatment effects along several dimensions. I find that the extensive margin is driven by price increases, while the intensive margin is explained by price decreases. The effect of price changes varies by region and race, highlighting the need for further investigation into mechanisms. Overall, I find supporting evidence for the main findings.