Willingness to accept commuting time for yourself and for your spouse: Empirical evidence from Swedish stated preference data

In this study, Swedish stated preference data is used to derive estimated values of commuting time (VOCT). Both spouses in two-earner households are individually making trade-offs between commuting time and wage; both with regard to their own commuting time and wage only, as well as when both their own commuting time and wage and their spouse's commuting time and wage are simultaneously changed. Thus, we are able to compare how male spouses and female spouses value each other's commuting time. When only ones own commuting time and wage are attributes, the empirical results show that the estimated VOCT is plausible with a tendency towards high values compared to other studies, and that VOCT does not differ significantly between men and women. When decisions affecting commuting time and wage of both spouses are analyzed, both spouses tend to value the commuting time of the wife highest. For policy implications, this study provides additional support for the practice of valuing commuting time higher than other private travel time. In addition, if VOCT were to be gender specific, the value might be higher for women than for men in two-earner households.