IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/1755.html

Ticket to Ride: Impact of free public transport on women's workforce participation in India

Author

Listed:
  • Rathore, Udayan
  • Singh, Ashish

Abstract

We leverage a quasi-natural experiment from India on introduction of free bus schemes for women to study its impact on women's labour force participation (WLFP) and other welfare indicators. We use two rounds of the representative Time Use Survey (2019 and 2024) and a triple difference estimation strategy, complemented by an event study type framework to identify the causal relationship of interest. Findings reveal that the bus scheme is successful in improving women's paid work participation and the duration of employment. These results are not a continuation of prior trends. The effects are mainly concentrated among early adopters like Punjab and Tamil Nadu, two states with historically different levels of WLFP. Moreover, the effects are disproportionately higher for women residing in more patriarchal districts and those facing higher mobility restrictions. We argue that the scheme works through easing of non-financial binding constraints, which lowers barriers to women's mobility and workforce participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Rathore, Udayan & Singh, Ashish, 2026. "Ticket to Ride: Impact of free public transport on women's workforce participation in India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1755, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1755
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/340904/1/GLO-DP-1755.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aparajita Dasgupta & Ashokankur Datta, 2023. "Gendered Transport Subsidy and its Short Run Effect on Female Employment: Evidence from Delhi’s Pink Pass Scheme," Working Papers 105, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    2. Christensen, Peter & Osman, Adam, 2021. "The Demand for Mobility: Evidence from an Experiment with Uber Riders," IZA Discussion Papers 14179, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Gutiérrez-i-Puigarnau, Eva & van Ommeren, Jos N., 2010. "Labour supply and commuting," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 82-89, July.
    4. Alex Bell & Raj Chetty & Xavier Jaravel & Neviana Petkova & John Van Reenen, 2019. "Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 647-713.
    5. Nancy Qian, 2008. "Missing Women and the Price of Tea in China: The Effect of Sex-Specific Earnings on Sex Imbalance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(3), pages 1251-1285.
    6. Chang‐Tai Hsieh & Erik Hurst & Charles I. Jones & Peter J. Klenow, 2019. "The Allocation of Talent and U.S. Economic Growth," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 87(5), pages 1439-1474, September.
    7. Heath, Rachel & Mushfiq Mobarak, A., 2015. "Manufacturing growth and the lives of Bangladeshi women," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 1-15.
    8. repec:osf:socarx:qmce9_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Udayan Rathore, 2026. "First to Wake-Up, Last to Eat: Evidence of Disproportionate Morning Penalties on Women in India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(3), pages 408-426, March.
    10. Daniel F. Martinez & Oscar A. Mitnik & Edgar Salgado & Lynn Scholl & Patricia Yañez-Pagans, 2020. "Connecting to Economic Opportunity: the Role of Public Transport in Promoting Women’s Employment in Lima," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-23, March.
    11. Somanchi, Anmol, 2021. "Missing the Poor, Big Time: A Critical Assessment of the Consumer Pyramids Household Survey," SocArXiv qmce9, Center for Open Science.
    12. Majlesi, Kaveh, 2016. "Labor market opportunities and women's decision making power within households," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 34-47.
    13. Yutong Chen & Kerem Coşar & Devaki Ghose & Shirish Mahendru & Sheetal Sekhri, 2024. "Gender-Specific Transportation Costs and Female Time Use: Evidence from India’s Pink Slip Program," NBER Working Papers 32508, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Udayan Rathore & Ashish Singh, 2026. "Ticket to ride: Impact of free public transport on women's workforce participation in India," Papers 2604.14758, arXiv.org.
    2. Molina, Teresa & Usui, Emiko, 2022. "Female Labor Market Opportunities and Gender Gaps in Aspirations," IZA Discussion Papers 15453, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Teresa Molina & Mari Tanaka, 2023. "Globalization and Female Empowerment: Evidence from Myanmar," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 519-565.
    4. Fletcher, Erin K. & Pande, Rohini & Moore, Charity Troyer, 2019. "Women and Work in India: Descriptive Evidence and a Review of Potential Policies," India Policy Forum, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 15(1), pages 149-216.
    5. Balasubramanian, Pooja & Ibanez, Marcela & Khan, Sarah & Sahoo, Soham, 2024. "Does women's economic empowerment promote human development in low- and middle-income countries? A meta-analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    6. Molina, Teresa & Usui, Emiko, 2023. "Female labor market conditions and gender gaps in aspirations," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 165-187.
    7. Sarah Xue Dong, 2021. "The effect of labour demand on women s intra-household decision power: Evidence from Indonesia," Departmental Working Papers 2021-01, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    8. Huichao Du & Yun Xiao & Liqiu Zhao, 2021. "Education and gender role attitudes," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 475-513, April.
    9. Sarthak Joshi, 2025. "Spatial Shocks and Gender Employment Gaps," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 323, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    10. Suanna Oh, 2023. "Does Identity Affect Labor Supply?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(8), pages 2055-2083, August.
    11. Ding, Yawen & Wang, Xiaobing & de Brauw, Alan & Qiu, Huanguang, 2024. "Catch up with my husband as I can: Women’s decision-making power consequences of China’s poverty alleviation relocation program," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    12. Magda Tsaneva & Marc Rockmore & Zahra Albohmood, 2019. "The effect of violent crime on female decision-making within the household: evidence from the Mexican war on drugs," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 615-646, June.
    13. VAN DEN BROECK, Goedele & MAERTENS, Miet, 2015. "Does Off-farm Employment Make Women in Rural Senegal Happy?," Working Papers 232593, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
    14. Guido Neidhöfer & Matías Ciaschi & Leonardo Gasparini & Joaquín Serrano, 2021. "Social Mobility and Economic Development: Evidence from a Panel of Latin American Regions," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0286, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    15. Svetlana Pimkina & Luciana de La Flor, 2020. "Promoting Female Labor Force Participation," World Bank Publications - Reports 34953, The World Bank Group.
    16. Sivropoulos-Valero, Anna Alexandra, 2021. "Education and economic growth," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114434, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Gozen, Ruveyda Nur, 2024. "Property rights and innovation dynamism: the role of women inventors," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 126790, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Anna Valero, 2021. "Education and economic growth," POID Working Papers 006, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    19. Guido Neidhöfer & Matías Ciaschi & Leonardo Gasparini & Joaquín Serrano, 2024. "Social mobility and economic development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 327-359, June.
    20. Prathi Seneviratne, 2017. "Female Labour Force Participation and Economic Development in Labour Abundant Countries: Evidence from Sri Lanka," Working Papers 2017-02, Carleton College, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1755. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/glabode.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.