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

TL;DR

This study examines how free public bus schemes in India increased women's workforce participation by easing mobility constraints, using a quasi-experimental approach with survey data.

Contribution

It provides causal evidence that free bus schemes significantly boost women's paid work, especially in patriarchal districts, through improved mobility.

Findings

Women's workforce participation increased due to the scheme.

Higher effects observed in patriarchal districts with mobility restrictions.

Results are robust and not due to prior trends.

Abstract

We leverage a quasi natural experiment from India on introduction of free bus schemes for women across five states to study it's impact on women's workforce participation. We use two rounds of the representative Time Use Survey and a triple difference estimation strategy, complemented by an event study framework to identify the causal relationship of interest. Findings reveal that the bus scheme was successful in improving women's paid work participation and duration of employment. We confirm that these results are not merely a continuation of prior trends. The scheme's effects are concentrated among early adopters like Punjab and Tamil Nadu, two states with historically different levels of women's workforce participation. We also find disproportionately higher effects for women residing in more patriarchal districts with higher mobility restrictions. We argue that the scheme works through easing of non-financial binding constraints, which lowers the barriers to women's mobility and workforce participation.