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Not incentivized yet efficient: Working from home in the public sector

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  • Alessandra Fenizia
  • Tom Kirchmaier

Abstract

This paper studies whether working from home (WFH) affects workers' performance in public sector jobs. Studying public sector initiatives allows us to establish baseline estimates on the impact of WFH net of incentives. Exploiting novel administrative data and plausibly exogenous variation in work location, we find that WFH increases productivity by 12%. These productivity gains are primarily driven by reduced distractions. They are not explained by differences in quality, shift length, or task allocation. The productivity gains more than double when tasks are assigned by the supervisor.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandra Fenizia & Tom Kirchmaier, 2024. "Not incentivized yet efficient: Working from home in the public sector," CEP Discussion Papers dp2036, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2036
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cevat Giray Aksoy & Jose Maria Barrero & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis & Mathias Dolls & Pablo Zarate, 2022. "Working from Home Around the World," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 53(2 (Fall)), pages 281-360.
    2. Battiston, Diego Ezequiel & Blanes I Vidal, Jordi & Kirchmaier, Tom & Szemeredi, Katalin, 2023. "Peer pressure and manager pressure in organisations," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121319, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    18. repec:osf:socarx:q4dyg_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Breda & Paul Dutronc-Postel & Vladimir Pecheu, 2024. "Does Feasibility Explain the Unequal Development of Working From Home?," PSE Working Papers halshs-04777568, HAL.
    2. Thomas Breda & Paul Dutronc-Postel & Vladimir Pecheu, 2024. "Does Feasibility Explain the Unequal Development of Working From Home?," Institut des Politiques Publiques halshs-04777568, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    working from home; productivity; public sector;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

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