Long-Run vs. Short-Run Perspectives on Consumer Scheduling: Evidence from a Revealed-Preference Experiment Among Peak-Hour Road Commuters

Abstract

Theoretical and empirical studies of consumer scheduling behavior in commuting, and the associated valuation of time and schedule delays usually ignore that consumers have more exibility to adjust their schedule in the longer run than in the shorter run, implying that also these valuations may differ. We propose a framework that does distinguish between a long-run choice of routines over the day, based on longrun expectations of travel times, and a short-run choice of departure time, taking these routines as given and using more precise expectations of travel time that can be formed when getting closer to the moment of traveling. Our empirical results show that significant differences exist in the valuation of time and of schedule delays between the long-run and the short-run model. Travel time is valued higher in the long-run model, as changes in travel time are more permanent and can therefore be exploited better through the rescheduling of routines. Schedule delays are valued higher in the short-run model, since scheduling restrictions are typically more binding in the short-run.