Working paper

Spatial Implications of Telecommuting in the United States

Year:

2023

Published in:

University of Southern California
Telecommuting
spatial model
Covid-19
workforce reallocation
inequality

Telecommuting came roaring to the forefront of the American workplace in the spring of 2020. While no more than 8% of work was done remotely in 2019, shutdowns and social-distancing policies introduced at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic pushed more than 1 out of every 3 American workers to telecommute. To reflect this shift, the research team aimed to update the spatial modeling toolbox to allow remote employment and develop a quantitative framework capable of analyzing the full range of reallocations, both within and across cities, which may result from its increasing popularity. The researchers build a quantitative spatial model in which some workers can substitute on-site effort with work done from home. The team quantifies their framework to match the distribution of jobs and residents across 4,502 U.S. locations. A permanent increase in the attractiveness of telework results in a rich non-monotonic pattern of reallocations within and across cities. Workers who can telecommute experience welfare gains, and those who cannot suffer losses. Additionally, broader access to jobs reduces inequality across residential locations. The framework robustly predicts changes in residents and housing prices observed 2019—2021.

Other publications by

17 publications found

2024
Working paper

Time Use and City Size

Publisher: SSRN

Authors: Andrii Parkhomenko, Seongmoon Cho

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JUE Insight: How Do Cities Change When We Work From Home?

Publisher: Journal of Urban Economics

Authors: Andrii Parkhomenko, Eunjee Kwon, Matthew J. Delventhal

2022
Working paper

Effective And Feasible Mechanisms To Support Ukrainian Researchers And Students At Risk: Opportunities, Challenges And Pitfalls

Publisher: OSF

Authors: Andrii Parkhomenko, Karishma Chhugani, Alina Frolova, Yuriy Salyha, Oksana Zlenko, Sanita Reinsone, Walter W. Wolfsberger, Oleksandra V. Ivashchenko, Megi Maci, Dmytro Dziuba, Eric Bortz, Fyodor Kondrashov, Paweł P. Łabaj, Veronika Romero, Jakub Hlávka, Taras K. Oleksyk, Serghei Mangul

2022
Journal article

Remote Opportunities For Scholars In Ukraine

Publisher: Science

Authors: Andrii Parkhomenko, Karishma Chhugani, Alina Frolova, Yuriy Salyha, Andrada Fiscutean, Oksana Zlenko, Sanita Reinsone, Walter W. Wolfsberger, Oleksandra V. Ivashchenko, Megi Maci, Dmytro Dziuba, Eric Bortz, Fyodor Kondrashov, Paweł P. Łabaj, Veronika Romero, Jakub Hlávka, Taras K. Oleksyk, Serghei Mangul

2023
Working paper

Skill Allocation And Urban Amenities In The Developing World

Publisher: University of Southern California

Authors: Andrii Parkhomenko, Jorge De la Roca, Daniel Velásquez-Cabrera