Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
The European Union (EU) is considering abolishing Daylight Saving Time (DST), i.e. the two-phase time arrangement that shifts back and forth the clock time. I estimate the causal effect of DST on accidents at work using administrative data from Italy between 2013 and 2017. Exploiting a Regression Discontinuity design, I find asymmetric results. The number of injuries increases by 2% in the first three days after the introduction of DST, but the effect vanishes afterwards; neither disabilities nor deaths are affected. When leaving DST, the number of injuries decreases by more than 10% and disabilities by a smaller amount; these effects vanish after one week. The effects of DST, including asymmetry, depend on sleeping behaviour and ambient light. The asymmetric results imply that monetary savings from a smaller number of injuries will be lost if the EU repeals the two-phase time arrangement; however, these advantages are tiny and short-lived.