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Predicting productivity gains from parking behavior

Shaomin Li (Department of Management, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA)

International Journal of Emerging Markets

ISSN: 1746-8809

Article publication date: 9 September 2014

824

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use parking behavior as a direct measure of delayed gratification, a cultural trait recognized by scholars as contributing to people's economic success. Backing into a parking space requires more time and effort, but it will enable the driver to exit more easily, safely, and quickly in the future. The author argue that people who park their cars back-in embody a culture of delayed gratification, and societies with a higher back-in parking rate tend to have better economic performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The author tested the hypothesis using parking and economic data from the BRIC countries, Taiwan, and the USA.

Findings

Results show that there is a strong positive relationship between back-in parking and labor productivity gains. The author also found that back-in parking positively correlates with economic growth, savings rate, and educational attainment.

Originality/value

This is the first study that uses parking behavior to predict economic performance. The feasibility of collecting parking behavior data across countries provides a new and viable way to overcome the limitation of relying on attitudinal or experimental data to measure the culture and behaviors of delayed gratification. The author therefore call for a collective effort to establish a “Global Parking Index.” Such an index will help us better understand parking behavior and how it may relate to socioeconomic performance such as learning, saving, and investing.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

JEL Classifications — B52, J24, O43, Z1

 The author thanks the following people and their friends for their help in collecting data for this research: Marian Felisberto Bitencourt, Rosey Bao, Rohit Dalal, Chun-ling Lee, Diana Li, William Thompson, Kasi Bharath Vegesana, Sonia Xiaohe Wu, and Qiang Zhang.

Citation

Li, S. (2014), "Predicting productivity gains from parking behavior", International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 462-470. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJoEM-07-2014-0100

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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