IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/anresc/v74y2025i1d10.1007_s00168-025-01368-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The teleworking paradox: the geography of residential mobility of workers in pandemic times

Author

Listed:
  • Pui-Hang Wong

    (Maastricht University, UNU-MERIT)

  • Karima Kourtit

    (Open University of the Netherlands
    Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
    Rijeka University)

  • Peter Nijkamp

    (Open University of the Netherlands
    Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
    Rijeka University)

Abstract

Spatial disparities in quality of life drive population movement between regions. This study explores how concerns related to remote work and health influence intentions to migrate between urban and rural areas in Europe. Using data from a large-scale survey conducted during the pandemic, we identify an indirect effect of occupation on migration intentions through preferences for teleworking. However, we do not find evidence of a direct relationship between occupation and teleworking. We term this phenomenon the “teleworking paradox”. To explain the paradox, we propose and test two mechanisms: economic agglomeration and health amenities. These mechanisms predict how workers in different occupations interact differently with place-specific factors. While evidence for the health amenity explanation is somewhat stronger than for the agglomeration mechanism, it remains mixed. Our findings suggest that the pandemic is unlikely to significantly narrow urban–rural disparities in Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Pui-Hang Wong & Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp, 2025. "The teleworking paradox: the geography of residential mobility of workers in pandemic times," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 74(1), pages 1-27, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:74:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s00168-025-01368-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s00168-025-01368-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00168-025-01368-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00168-025-01368-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arjun Ramani & Nicholas Bloom, 2021. "The Donut Effect of Covid-19 on Cities," NBER Working Papers 28876, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Lutz Sager, 2012. "Residential Segregation and Socioeconomic Neighbourhood Sorting: Evidence at the Micro-neighbourhood Level for Migrant Groups in Germany," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(12), pages 2617-2632, September.
    3. Dingel, Jonathan I. & Neiman, Brent, 2020. "How many jobs can be done at home?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    4. Adams-Prassl, Abi & Boneva, Teodora & Golin, Marta & Rauh, Christopher, 2020. "Inequality in the impact of the coronavirus shock: Evidence from real time surveys," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    5. Hongmian Gong & James o. Wheeler, 2002. "The Location and Suburbanization of Business and Professional Services in the Atlanta Area," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 341-369.
    6. David Lagakos, 2020. "Urban-Rural Gaps in the Developing World: Does Internal Migration Offer Opportunities?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 174-192, Summer.
    7. Saskia Sassen & Karima Kourtit, 2021. "A Post-Corona Perspective for Smart Cities: ‘ Should I Stay or Should I Go ?’," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, September.
    8. Nataliya Rybnikova & Dani Broitman & Daniel Czamanski, 2023. "Initial signs of post-covid-19 physical structures of cities in Israel," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    9. Safirova, Elena, 2002. "Telecommuting, traffic congestion, and agglomeration: a general equilibrium model," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 26-52, July.
    10. Gokan,Toshitaka & Kichko,Sergei & Matheson,Jesse A & Thisse,Jacques-François, 2022. "How the rise of teleworking will reshape labor markets and cities?," IDE Discussion Papers 868, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    11. Luca Bonacini & Giovanni Gallo & Sergio Scicchitano, 2021. "Working from home and income inequality: risks of a ‘new normal’ with COVID-19," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(1), pages 303-360, January.
    12. Pui-Hang Wong & Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp, 2024. "Pandemetrics: modelling pandemic impacts in space," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-7, December.
    13. Jiří Balcar & Jan Šulák, 2021. "Urban environmental quality and out-migration intentions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 66(3), pages 579-607, June.
    14. Kangoh Lee & Chung-Yi Tse, 2024. "Amenities and wage premiums: the role of services," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 72(1), pages 37-63, January.
    15. Ugo Fratesi & Marco Percoco, 2014. "Selective Migration, Regional Growth and Convergence: Evidence from Italy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(10), pages 1650-1668, October.
    16. Michael Storper & Allen J. Scott, 2009. "Rethinking human capital, creativity and urban growth," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 147-167, March.
    17. Daniel Wheatley, 2021. "Workplace location and the quality of work: The case of urban-based workers in the UK," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(11), pages 2233-2257, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Damola Victor Akinwande & Georgios Boustras & Omoye Mary Akhagba & Chizubem Benson, 2025. "Socio-Economic Impacts of Crisis Management: A Focus on Lockdown and Remote Work Effectiveness During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Merits, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-22, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Erdsiek, Daniel & Rost, Vincent, 2022. "Working from home after COVID-19: Firms expect a persistent and intensive shift," ZEW Expert Briefs 22-06, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Blanas, Sotiris & Oikonomou, Rigas, 2023. "COVID-induced economic uncertainty, tasks and occupational demand," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Behrens, Kristian & Kichko, Sergei & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2024. "Working from home: Too much of a good thing?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    4. Alipour, Jean-Victor & Falck, Oliver & Schüller, Simone, 2023. "Germany’s capacity to work from home," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    5. Jun Hyung Kim & Yu Kyung Koh & Jinseong Park, 2023. "Mental Health Consequences of Working from Home during the Pandemic," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(1), pages 18-50, January.
    6. Alessandra Casarico & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2022. "The heterogeneous effects of COVID-19 on labor market flows: evidence from administrative data," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(3), pages 537-558, September.
    7. Carlos Díaz & Sebastian Fossati & Nicolás Trajtenberg, 2022. "Stay at home if you can: COVID‐19 stay‐at‐home guidelines and local crime," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 1067-1113, December.
    8. Carmen Aina & Irene Brunetti & Chiara Mussida & Sergio Scicchitano, 2023. "Distributional effects of COVID-19," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(1), pages 221-256, March.
    9. Stefanie Stantcheva, 2022. "Inequalities in the times of a pandemic," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 37(109), pages 5-41.
    10. Gilles Duranton & Jessie Handbury, 2023. "COVID and Cities, Thus Far," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 29(2), pages 6-52, October.
    11. Luca, Davide & Özgüzel, Cem & Wei, Zhiwu, 2024. "The spatially uneven diffusion of remote jobs in Europe," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122651, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. A. Cetrulo & D. Guarascio & M. E. Virgillito, 2022. "Working from home and the explosion of enduring divides: income, employment and safety risks," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(2), pages 345-402, July.
    13. Giovanni Gallo & Michele Raitano, 2020. "SOS incomes: Simulated effects of COVID-19 and emergency benefits on individual and household income distribution in Italy," Working Papers 566, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    14. Ainaa, Carmen & Brunetti, Irene & Mussida, Chiara & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2021. "Who lost the most? Distributive effects of COVID-19 pandemic," GLO Discussion Paper Series 829, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Kangoh Lee, 2025. "Working from home, wages, housing prices, and welfare," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 171-198, March.
    16. Wei-Cheng Chen & Yi-Cheng Kao & Yi-Hsuan Lin, 2024. "Efficient work-from-home allocation for pandemic mitigation," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 28(1), pages 45-67, February.
    17. Carbonero, Francesco & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2021. "Labour and technology at the time of Covid-19. Can artificial intelligence mitigate the need for proximity?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 765, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Aleem, Majid & Sufyan, Muhammad & Ameer, Irfan & Mustak, Mekhail, 2023. "Remote work and the COVID-19 pandemic: An artificial intelligence-based topic modeling and a future agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    19. Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia & Victoria Vernon, 2023. "Who is doing the chores and childcare in dual-earner couples during the COVID-19 era of working from home?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 519-565, June.
    20. Sara Grubanov-Boskovic & Spyridon Spyratos & Stefano Maria Iacus & Umberto Minora & Francesco Sermi, 2021. "Monitoring COVID-19-induced gender differences in teleworking rates using Mobile Network Data," Papers 2111.09442, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2021.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:74:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s00168-025-01368-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.