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Using the life satisfaction approach to value daylight savings time transitions. Evidence from Britain and Germany

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  • Daniel Kuehnle
  • Christoph Wunder

Abstract

Daylight savings time (DST) represents a public good with costs and benefits. We provide the first comprehensive examination of the welfare effects of the spring and autumn transitions for the UK and Germany. Using individual-level data and a regression discontinuity design, we estimate the effect of the transitions on life satisfaction. Our results show that individuals in both the UK and Germany experience deteriorations in life satisfaction in the first week after the spring transition. We find no effect of the autumn transition. We attribute the negative effect of the spring transition to the reduction in the time endowment and the process of adjusting to the disruption in circadian rhythms. The effects are particularly strong for individuals with young children in the household. We conclude that the higher the shadow price of time, the more difficult is adjustment. Presumably, an increase in flexibility to reallocate time could reduce the welfare loss for individuals with binding time constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Kuehnle & Christoph Wunder, 2014. "Using the life satisfaction approach to value daylight savings time transitions. Evidence from Britain and Germany," Working Papers 156, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    • Handle: RePEc:bav:wpaper:156_kuehnlewunder
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    Cited by:

    1. Joan Costa-Font & Sarah Fleche & Ricardo Pagan, 2021. "The Welfare Effects of Time Reallocation: Evidence from Daylight Saving Time," Working Papers halshs-03322741, HAL.
    2. Kudela, Peter & Havranek, Tomas & Herman, Dominik & Irsova, Zuzana, 2020. "Does daylight saving time save electricity? Evidence from Slovakia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Tomas Havranek, Dominik Herman, and Zuzana Irsova, 2018. "Does Daylight Saving Save Electricity? A Meta-Analysis," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    4. Nicholas Rivers, 2018. "Does Daylight Savings Time Save Energy? Evidence from Ontario," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(2), pages 517-543, June.
    5. Jin, Lawrence & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2015. "Does Daylight Saving Time Really Make Us Sick?," IZA Discussion Papers 9088, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Jin, L. & Ziebarth, N.R., 2015. "Sleep and Human Capital: Evidence from Daylight Saving Time," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 15/27, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    7. Herber, Stefanie P. & Quis, Johanna Sophie & Heineck, Guido, 2017. "Does the transition into daylight saving time affect students’ performance?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 130-139.
    8. Neugebauer, Martin & Patzina, Alexander & Dietrich, Hans & Sandner, Malte, 2023. "Two Pandemic Years Greatly Reduced Young People's Life Satisfaction: Evidence from a Comparison with Pre-COVID-19 Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 16636, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Christian Bünnings & Valentin Schiele, 2021. "Spring Forward, Don't Fall Back: The Effect of Daylight Saving Time on Road Safety," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(1), pages 165-176, March.
    10. Jonathan James, 2023. "Let there be light: Daylight saving time and road traffic collisions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(3), pages 523-545, July.
    11. Tomas Havranek & Zuzana Irsova & Dominik Herman, 2016. "Does Daylight Saving Save Energy? A Meta-Analysis," Working Papers IES 2016/24, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised Nov 2016.
    12. Jelnov, Pavel, 2021. "Sunset Long Shadows: Time, Crime, and Perception of Change," IZA Discussion Papers 14770, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Jin, Lawrence & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2020. "Sleep, health, and human capital: Evidence from daylight saving time," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 174-192.
    14. YODO Masato & UCHIDA Atsuhiko, 2022. "How Much Is It Worth Not Being Alone? An empirical evaluation of social support using the life satisfaction approach in Japan," Discussion papers 22108, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    15. Joan Costa‐Font & Sarah Fleche & Ricardo Pagan, 2024. "The welfare effects of time reallocation: evidence from Daylight Saving Time," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 91(362), pages 547-568, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    daylight savings time; life satisfaction; regression discontinuity; UK; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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