Daylight savings time represents a public good with costs and benefits. We provide the first
comprehensive examination of the welfare effects of the spring and autumn transitions for
the UK and Germany. Using individual-level data and a regression discontinuity design, we
estimate the effect of the transitions on life satisfaction. Our results show that individuals in
both the UK and Germany experience deteriorations in life satisfaction in the first week after
the spring transition. We find no effect of the autumn transition. We attribute the negative …