Re-visiting residential self-selection and dissonance: Does intra-household decision-making change the results?

Abstract

• Diverging travel attitudes between partners limit residential self-selection. • Women’s travel attitudes substantially influence neighborhood selection. • Neighborhood characteristics affect female partners more in their mode choice. • More dissonant households live in suburban than in urban core areas. A considerable amount of literature has discussed the relevance of travel attitudes for location choices and travel behavior. Numerous studies have reported evidence that individuals choose neighborhoods that allow them to travel with their preferred transport mode, a process referred to as residential self-selection. Most studies, however, assume homogeneous attitudes and preferences among household members and ignore negotiation processes between partners that influence travel and location choices. The goal of this study is to investigate the extent to which heterogeneity in attitudes between partners affect residential self-selection and residential dissonance. This study uses data from a travel survey conducted in the agglomeration area of Vienna (Austria), factor analyses and multinomial logit models to explore residential location and mode choices. Descriptive analysis reveals that depending on the neighborhood type travel attitudes have different effects on mode choice. Heterogeneity in travel attitudes between partners partly explains limited evidence of residential self-selection and dissonance. In general, effects of residential dissonance on location choice are most relevant if both partners are dissonant. Surprisingly, only women’s travel attitudes substantially influence neighborhood selection which may be explained by the fact that female partners are also more affected by neighborhood characteristics in their travel behavior than their male partners. One third of respondents does not live in neighborhoods that match their travel attitudes. More dissonant households live in suburban areas than in the urban core indicating potential pressures on the housing market. Policy implications of these results emphasize the relevance of gender and highlight the challenge of providing affordable housing with good mobility services.