University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
ScholarWorks@UARK
Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses Accounting
5-2015
Labor Force Commute Mode Preferences and the
Natural Environment
Brandon Killen
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
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Recommended Citation
Killen, Brandon, "Labor Force Commute Mode Preferences and the Natural Environment" (2015). Accounting Undergraduate Honors
Theses. 16.
http://scholarworks.uark.edu/acctuht/16
Labor Force Commute Mode Preferences and the Natural Environment
By
Brandon Killen
Advisor: Susan E. Bristow
An Honors Thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Bachelor of
Science in Business Administration in Accounting
Sam M. Walton College of Business
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 11, 2014
Abstract
In commuting to work, commuters select from a limited variety of transportation modes,
including alternative modes like cycling and walking, based on needs and preferences.
Understanding these needs and preferences, and how the conditions of the immediate
environment can influence them can benefit both businesses and local governments in their
efforts to accommodate the commute needs of their workers and better serve their communities.
Though the body of commute preference research has grown significantly over recent decades,
the study of the effects of the natural environment has remained mostly overlooked. In my
research, I examined the relationships between selected weather conditions of the natural
environment and the percentage of the labor force that cycled or walked to work in large U.S.
cities.
To explore these relationships, I employed multicollinaerity and multiple linear
regression analysis of the percentage of the labor force that commuted by cycling or walking in
the two largest cities of each state with eight observed conditions of the natural environment in
each city: the mean daily maximum temperature; the mean daily minimum temperature; the
number of days per year in which fog limited visibility to less than or equal to one-quarter mile;
the number of days per year with thunderstorms; the mean wind speed; the total water equivalent
precipitation; the total amount of snow, ice, pellets, and hail; and the total number of days with
snowfall greater than or equal to one inch.
The results of my statistical analysis revealed that only two variables (the number of days
per year with thunderstorms and the total water equivalent precipitation) exhibited significant
relationships with the percentage of work commuters who cycled or walked. Furthermore, the
number of days per year with thunderstorms exhibited a strong inverse relationship, meaning that
thunderstorms deterred workers from cycling or walking to work. These relationships confirmed
the significant influence that precipitation, as a condition of the natural environment, can bear on
commute preferences. Based on these findings, businesses can better understand their employees
and improve their productivity and reputations within their communities by accommodating the
differences in commute mode preferences across varying climatological regions.
Acknowledgments
Throughout the completion of my honors thesis, I met and received invaluable guidance
and assistance from a collection of knowledgeable individuals within the faculty of the Sam M.
Walton College of Business and the University of Arkansas Library. First, I would like to
express my appreciation to Dr. Susan Bristow for her commitment and continual encouragement
as my thesis advisor. With her counsel, I developed exponentially my research acumen, and
gained substantial experience in the process. Additionally, I would like to thank JaLynn Thomas
for her auxiliary perusal and consideration of my research.
For their considerable assistance during the preliminary diagnostics and statistical
analysis procedures of my methodology, I would like to thank Dr. Christina Serrano and Ruba
Aljafari. I would also like to thank Mark Minton of the Walton College Writing Center for
offering additional guidance in the writing of my research. Finally, I would like to express my
gratitude to Donna Daniels of the University of Arkansas Library for providing me with
numerous resources which, in turn, provided momentum in the completion of my literature
review. As a former data analysis and scholastic research novice, I have a sincere and deep
appreciation for all of the enthusiastic and considerate experts to whom I have been introduced
throughout this process.