Carpooling and employers: a multilevel modelling approach

Both public policy-makers and private companies promote carpooling as a commuting alternative in order to reduce the number of Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) users. The Belgian questionnaire Home-To-Work-Travel (HTWT) is used to examine the factors which explain the share of carpooling employees at a worksite. The modal split between carpooling and rail use was also subject of the analysis. The number of observations in the HTWT database (n=7460) makes it possible to use more advanced statistical models: such as multilevel regression models which incorporate, next to the worksite level, also the company and economic sector levels. As a consequence, a more employer-oriented approach replaces the traditional focus of commuting research on the individual. Significant differences in modal split between economic sectors appeared. The most carpool-oriented sectors are construction and manufacturing, while rail transport is more popular in the financial and public sector. Carpooling also tend to be an alternative at locations where rail is no real alternative. Next to this, regular work schedules and smaller sites are positively correlated with a higher share of carpooling employees. Finally, no real evidence could be found for the effectiveness of mobility management measures which promote carpooling. However, most of these measures are classified in the literature as less effective and a case study approach should complete the research on mobility management initiatives

Insufficient access to harm reduction measures in prisons in 5 countries (PRIDE Europe): a shared European public health concern

Background: Prisoners constitute a high-risk population, particularly for infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to estimate the level of infectious risk in the prisons of five different European countries by measuring to what extent the prison system adheres to WHO/UNODC recommendations. Methods: Following the methodology used in a previous French survey, a postal/electronic questionnaire was sent to all prisons in Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Italy to collect data on the availability of several recommended HIV-HCV prevention interventions and HBV vaccination for prisoners. A score was built to compare adherence to WHO/UNODC recommendations (considered a proxy of environmental infectious risk) in those 4 countries. It ranged from 0 (no adherence) to 12 (full adherence). A second score (0 to 9) was built to include data from a previous French survey, thereby creating a 5-country comparison. Results: A majority of prisons answered in Austria (100 %), France (66 %) and Denmark (58 %), half in Belgium (50 %) and few in Italy (17 %), representing 100, 74, 89, 47 and 23 % coverage of the prison populations, respectively. Availability of prevention measures was low, with median adherence scores ranging from 3.5 to 4.5 at the national level. These results were confirmed when using the second score which included France in the inter-country comparison. Overall, the adherence score was inversely associated with prison overpopulation rates (p = 0.08). Conclusions: Using a score of adherence to WHO/UNODC recommendations, the estimated environmental infectious risk remains extremely high in the prisons of the 5 European countries assessed. Public health strategies should be adjusted to comply with the principle of equivalence of care and prevention with the general community

“Let the business cycle!” A spatial multilevel analysis of cycling to work

The daily commute is still the main source of traffic congestion. Despite transport research emphasis on commuters, the work end of home to work travel receives less attention. However, employers influence the commute behaviour of employees in different ways. The Belgian database Home-to-Work-Traffic (HTWT) contains information on accessibility, work regimes and mobility management initiatives of 7460 worksites of large employers in Belgium. In a spatial multilevel regression model both contextual and worksite factors are incorporated to investigate the share of cycling employees. While controlling for different economic, physical and other factors, the provision of bicycles by the employer seems to be successful, while the effect of bicycle facilities is less clear, partly due to the fact that bicycle facilities are more popular in less cycle-friendly areas.Het dagelijkse pendelverkeer is nog steeds de voornaamste bron van verkeerscongestie. Ondanks de nadruk die transportonderzoek legt op dit pendelverkeer, blijft de werkkant van het woon-werkverkeer onderbelicht. Nochtans beïnvloeden werkgevers het pendelgedrag van hun werknemers op verschillende manieren. De Belgische databank woon-werkverkeer bevat informatie over de bereikbaarheid, de arbeidstijden en mobility management maatregelen van 7460 werklocaties van grote werkgevers gevestigd in België. In een ruimtelijk multilevel regressiemodel zijn zowel omgevings- als werklocatiefactoren opgenomen om het aandeel fietsende werknemers te verklaren. Rekening houdend met economische, fysische en andere factoren, lijkt het actief aanbieden van fietsen door de werkgever een succesvolle maatregel, terwijl het effect van de klassieke fietsvoorzieningen minder duidelijk is, onder meer omdat deze vooral terug te vinden zijn in minder fietsvriendelijke gebieden

On the effectiveness of employer transport plans : which mobility measures influence the commuting choices of employees?

This dissertation interests in employer transport plans. It was instigated in the framework of a research project financed by the Belgian science policy, the ADICCT project (Witlox et al., 2011). It consists of the part of the project that exclusively focuses on transport plans, as a strict company point of view is adopted. In this way, it complements the other area of research studied in the project, i.e. the explanation of differences in modal splits at workplaces (Vanoutrive, 2010). The following research questions are addressed: are ETP effective? If so, which mobility measures they can embed influence the commuting choices of employees? Four chapters, based on published or at least submitted papers, contribute in answering both questions and at filling some research gaps of the literature. The following topics are addressed: the practices of companies as regards the promotion of alternative modes of transport, the commuting behaviours of employees, the effectiveness of mobility measures, the identification of obtained modal shifts, and the profession of mobility managers and their impact on commuting. It emerges that that there is clearly a of lack reflection on employer transport plans within companies, which hampers their effectiveness. The appointment of an effective (and involved) mobility manager overcomes this problem. As regard the promotion of alternative modes of transport, it is shown that carpooling is more difficult to promote within companies than other modes. Its use is mainly explained by personal characteristics of employees while cycling and public transport use are mainly explained by background conditions at workplace. Hence, companies have less action levers to promote carpooling. In addition, the use of carpooling is more volatile, reducing thus the effects of such strategies in the long term. Employer transport plans are effective. A list of mobility measures that help to successfully implement them is found. These mobility measures (and a fortiori the employer transport plans that include them) produce continuous effects. They do not only help to convince sole car users to change their modal habits, but they also have an impact on the users of other alternative modes of transport. In the same way, some measures have indirect effects, increasing the use of alternative modes they do not promote. Their effects have therefore to be assessed on all the available modes. It can be concluded that no general ETP design can be proposed, as appropriate measures must be taken at the appropriate workplace. This is the rule in matter of effective employer transport plans.(ECGE - Sciences économiques et de gestion) -- UCL, 201

Tax interaction among Walloon Municipalities: is there room for yardstick competition, intellectual trend and partisan monopoly effect?

Three sources of strategic tax interactions among local jurisdictions are usually considered in the literature: public expenditure spill-over, tax competition and yardstick competition. However, another source has now been suggested: the intellectual trend. According to that hypothesis, politicians of the same party tend to behave similarly: incumbents of the same party mimic each other’s policies. Moreover partisan politics may also act through a monopoly power effect linked to several terms of power for the same party, consecutively: a political party is more likely to have implemented tax rates corresponding to its ideology if it has ruled the municipality several legislatures in a row. The paper proposes an empirical analysis of tax interactions among Walloon municipalities (the Southern part of Belgium) in view of discriminating among the sources of interaction. Yardstick hypothesis, intellectual trend hypothesis and potential partisan monopoly power effect are tested. Spatial econometrics tools are used along a panel of local tax rates data from 1983 to 2008 and political data. Results confirm the existence of yardstick competition among Walloon municipalities but not that of behaviors in line with the intellectual trend hypothesis. Moreover evidence is found of a partisan monopoly power effect: several successive legislatures with a sole left-wing party in power increase the tax rates. Finally the presence of an electoral cycle is also clearly documented

Testing yardstick competition through a vote-function: evidence from the Walloon municipalities

This paper aims at testing yardstick competition among the local jurisdictions of the Walloon Region (Southern part of Belgium) by directly testing its seminal hypothesis: yardstick voting. Actually the theory states that local incumbents are mimicking each other because they fear punishment for implementing higher tax rates than in neighbouring jurisdictions. Our research question is whether voters punish their incumbents for higher tax rates. We estimate different specifications of a vote function. None of them supports the yardstick voting hypothesis. One can thus exclude yardstick voting being statistically supported by taxpayers’ behaviour. And we can exclude yardstick competition as a source of tax interactions in the region if yardstick voting is a testable hypothesis of yardstick competition. Indeed, if tax rates of the neighbouring jurisdictions do not influence voters’ choices, incumbents do not have to fear an electoral punishment and then mimicking each other is meaningless

Tax interaction among Walloon Municipalities: is there room for yardstick competition, intellectual trend and partisan monopoly effect?

Three sources of strategic tax interactions among local jurisdictions are usually considered in the literature: public expenditure spill-over, tax competition and yardstick competition. However, another source has now been suggested: the intellectual trend. According to that hypothesis, politicians of the same party tend to behave similarly: incumbents of the same party mimic each other’s policies. Moreover partisan politics may also act through a monopoly power effect linked to several terms of power for the same party, consecutively: a political party is more likely to have implemented tax rates corresponding to its ideology if it has ruled the municipality several legislatures in a row. The paper proposes an empirical analysis of tax interactions among Walloon municipalities (the Southern part of Belgium) in view of discriminating among the sources of interaction. Yardstick hypothesis, intellectual trend hypothesis and potential partisan monopoly power effect are tested. Spatial econometrics tools are used along a panel of local tax rates data from 1983 to 2008 and political data. Results confirm the existence of yardstick competition among Walloon municipalities but not that of behaviors in line with the intellectual trend hypothesis. Moreover evidence is found of a partisan monopoly power effect: several successive legislatures with a sole left-wing party in power increase the tax rates. Finally the presence of an electoral cycle is also clearly documented

<< Let the business cycle ! >> A spatial multilevel analysis of cycling to work

The daily commute is still the main source of traffic congestion. Despite transport research emphasis on commuters, the work end of home to work travel receives less attention. However, employers influence the commute behaviour of employees in different ways. The Belgian database Home-to-Work-Traffic (HTWT) contains information on accessibility, work regimes and mobility management initiatives of 7460 worksites of large employers in Belgium. In a spatial multilevel regression model both contextual and worksite factors are incorporated to investigate the share of cycling employees. While controlling for different economic, physical and other factors, the provision of bicycles by the employer seems to be successful, while the effect of bicycle facilities is less clear, partly due to the fact that bicycle facilities are more popular in less cycle-friendly areas