Gender-Specific Benefits from Ride-Hailing Apps: Evidence from Uber's Entry in Chile

Abstract

In this paper we empirically assess the impact of the deployment of Uber on the incidence of drunk-driving fatal traffic accidents and fatalities in Chile. Based on observational data about accidents and the fact that Uber entered first the Metropolitan Region (Santiago), we are able to exploit differences in entry dates and availability of the service across municipalities to identify the effects of Uber’s entry by using a difference-in-differences approach. We contribute to the literature by assessing whether there is a differentiated effect between male and female fatalities and according to their role in the accident (i.e., driver or passenger). In particular, the presence of a mobility bias against women in the traditional transport sector may imply that Uber brings greater benefits for them. Our results suggest that Uber’s entry has significantly decreased the number of drunk-driving fatal accidents and fatalities, mainly during the nighttime. We show that this effect is mainly driven by a reduction in the number of female passengers’ fatalities and the number of nighttime male drivers’ fatalities in these types of accidents. The results are robust to the inclusion of different sets of controls and exposure measures.