Structural equation analysis of interactions between job-housing relations, transport mode and commuting times in Beijing

Donggen WANG, Yanwei Chai

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Because of the significance of commuting to daily trip making and traffic congestion, the travel between home and workplace has been a topic of research for decades. Since commuting is resulted from the separation between work place and residential place, the job-housing relation is one of the major determinants of commuting patterns. The relationships between job-housing relation and commuting patterns in the West have been extensively studied. There is, however, hardly any reported study on commuting patterns in China. It is well known that the job-housing relation in China had been dictated and is still largely influenced by the so-called Danwei system, in which work units provide employees housing at places close to or even in the same location of the workplace. We believe that such a unique job-housing relation may lead to the commuting patterns largely different from that observed in the West and thus a study on the relations between the two may enrich the literature on commuting behavior. To that end, we apply the structural equation models to investigate the interactions between sources of housing (provided by work unit or not), job-housing relation, transport mode and commuting time. The sample involves 736 employed heads of households, which is derived from a survey conducted in Beijing in 2001. The results show that the Danwei system in China has led to closer job-housing relation, higher propensity towards environmental friendly transport mode and shorter commuting time. This finding is perhaps in support of the job-housing balance argument.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTransportation and the Economy - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies, HKSTS 2005
Pages359-368
Number of pages10
Publication statusPublished - 2005
Event10th International Conference of Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies: Transportation and the Economy, HKSTS 2005 - Kowloon, Hong Kong
Duration: 10 Dec 200510 Dec 2005

Publication series

NameTransportation and the Economy - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies, HKSTS 2005

Conference

Conference10th International Conference of Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies: Transportation and the Economy, HKSTS 2005
Country/TerritoryHong Kong
CityKowloon
Period10/12/0510/12/05

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Automotive Engineering
  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Structural equation analysis of interactions between job-housing relations, transport mode and commuting times in Beijing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this