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The direction of innovation and work from home

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  • Yoon, Chungeun

Abstract

This study explores how allowing remote work affects firms' innovation activity. I investigate the effect of the significant shift toward working from home that occurred in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on the direction of innovation. I find that work from home has shifted the path of innovation toward technology that supports non–face-to-face communication. Using a sample of patent-holding firms, I document that firms that adopted work from home applied for more patents of non–face-to-face technologies than firms that did not offer work from home. The results are driven by smaller, younger firms in the ICT-related industry, suggesting that these firms had greater digital resilience and were better able to adjust to the unprecedented shock to the working environment. I discuss how these facts contribute to our understanding of the impact of work from home on the direction of innovation, and how we may design policy responses to future shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Yoon, Chungeun, 2026. "The direction of innovation and work from home," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:55:y:2026:i:1:s0048733325001738
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2025.105344
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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