Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/267233.2 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 10000
Version Description: 
This Version: June 2025
Publisher: 
CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
We estimate the impact of the Covid-induced shift to working from home (WFH) on offline consumer spending within cities. The analysis builds on a postcode-level panel (2019-2023) of novel cellphone mobility and payment card transaction data for 50 German metropolitan areas (MAs). Identification uses local differences in the exposure to the WFH shock, measured by neighbourhoods' WFH potential: the fraction of residents with a teleworkable job. Difference-in-differences estimates show that higher WFH potential leads to persistent declines in morning mobility and higher local spending within MAs. We estimate an elasticity of spending with respect to WFH-induced mobility changes of -3.7%, driven by large MAs. Unlike in the US, the WFH shock did not spur business turnover, urban outmigration, or a sustained shift to e-commerce in Germany. We conclude that WFH primarily reshapes urban consumption by reallocating where people spend time.
Subjects: 
Remote Work
Consumer Spending
Urban Agglomerations
Cities
Spatial Analysis
Cellphone Mobility
JEL: 
D1
J0
R1
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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2 10419/267233.2 Revised Version: June 2025
1 10419/267233 Original Version: October 2022

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