Learning by Driving: Productivity Improvements by New York City Taxi Drivers
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 9,
no. 1, January 2017
(pp. 70-95)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
We study learning by doing by New York City taxi drivers, who have substantial discretion over their driving strategies and receive compensation closely tied to their success in finding customers. In addition to documenting learning overall by these entrepreneurial agents, we exploit our data's breadth to investigate the factors that contribute to driver improvement across a variety of situations. New drivers lag further behind experienced drivers when in difficult situations. Drivers benefit from accumulating neighborhood-specific experience, which affects how they search for their next customers.Citation
Haggag, Kareem, Brian McManus, and Giovanni Paci. 2017. "Learning by Driving: Productivity Improvements by New York City Taxi Drivers." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9 (1): 70-95. DOI: 10.1257/app.20150059Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- L26 Entrepreneurship
- L92 Railroads and Other Surface Transportation
- R41 Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
There are no comments for this article.
Login to Comment