Heterogeneity in Work From Home: Evidence from Six U.S. Datasets

Bick, Alexander; Blandin, Adam; Caplan, Aidan; Caplan, Tristan

doi:10.20955/wp.2024.038

Working Paper

Heterogeneity in Work From Home: Evidence from Six U.S. Datasets

Abstract: This paper documents heterogeneity in work from home (WFH) across six U.S. data sets. These surveys agree that pre-pandemic differences in WFH rates by sex, education, and state of residence expanded following the Covid-19 outbreak. The surveys also show similar post-pandemic trends in WFH by firm size and industry. We show that an industry's WFH potential was highly correlated with actual WFH during the first year or two of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that this correlation was much weaker before and after the pandemic, suggesting that WFH potential is a necessary but not sufficient determinant in the decision to WFH.

Keywords: work from home; remote work; telecommuting; commuting; data set comparisons;

JEL Classification: I18; J21; J22; J24; L23;

https://doi.org/10.20955/wp.2024.038