Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/232428 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 8831
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We develop a general equilibrium model with three primary production factors—land, skilled, and unskilled labor—and three sectors—construction, intermediate inputs, and final consump-tion—to study how different intensities of telecommuting affect the efficiency of firms that embrace home working, as well as its impact on the whole economy. In doing so, we pay particular attention to the effects of increasing working from home (WFH) that go through changes in the production and consumption of buildings: more WFH reduces firms’ demands for office space, but increases workers’ demand for living space since additional room is re-quired to work from home. We find that more WFH is a mixed blessing: the relationship between telecommuting and productivity or GDP is ∩-shaped, whereas telecommuting raises income inequality. Hence, WFH is not a panacea since an excessive downscaling of workspaces may be damaging to all and exacerbate economic inequality.
Subjects: 
working from home
alternative work arrangements
telecommuting
housing and office markets
land
JEL: 
J20
R13
R14
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.