When Labor Disputes Bring Cities to a Standstill: The Impact of Public Transit Strikes on Traffic, Accidents, Air Pollution, and Health
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 9,
no. 1, February 2017
(pp. 1-37)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
Many governments have banned strikes in public transportation. Whether this can be justified depends on whether strikes endanger public safety or health. We use time-series and cross-sectional variation in powerful registry data to quantify the effects of public transit strikes on urban populations in Germany. Due to higher traffic volumes and longer travel times, total car hours operated increase by 11 to 13 percent during strikes. This effect is accompanied by a 14 percent increase in vehicle crashes, a 20 percent increase in accident-related injuries, a 14 percent increase in particle pollution, and an 11 percent increase in hospital admissions for respiratory diseases among young children.Citation
Bauernschuster, Stefan, Timo Hener, and Helmut Rainer. 2017. "When Labor Disputes Bring Cities to a Standstill: The Impact of Public Transit Strikes on Traffic, Accidents, Air Pollution, and Health." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 9 (1): 1-37. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20150414Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I12 Health Behavior
- J45 Public Sector Labor Markets
- J52 Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation; Collective Bargaining
- L91 Transportation: General
- Q53 Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
- R41 Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
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