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Housing booms and shirking

Author

Listed:
  • Gu, Quanlin
  • He, Jia
  • Qian, Wenlan
  • Ren, Yuan

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of housing wealth shocks on workplace shirking. We use the type and actual time stamps of credit card transactions to detect non-work-related behavior during work hours. After a one-percentage-point increase in house prices, employed homeowners experienced a fast and persistent increase by 3.8 % per month in their propensity to use work hours to attend to personal needs. The post-shock response is more pronounced among homeowners with a greater wealth increase, with poorer career potential, or for occupations with higher monitoring costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Gu, Quanlin & He, Jia & Qian, Wenlan & Ren, Yuan, 2025. "Housing booms and shirking," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:149:y:2025:i:c:s0094119025000580
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2025.103793
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • R3 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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