New Work Environments: The Economic Relevance of Flexible Office Space

Technological, societal, and organizational changes have changed the way people accomplish work. Coworking spaces are a response to the new demands that come with these changes. They are new, flexible workspaces where heterogeneous user work together. In addition to the physical workspace, users benefit from a community and a network of like-minded people. They are worldwide in scope and foster collaboration, creativity, and innovation. To date, there has been a lack of in-depth understanding of how these workspaces contribute to work success and other outcomes such as entrepreneurial activity, or economic growth. In order to comprehensively understand the impact of these new workspaces, it is necessary to grasp and categorize their influence on a wide variety of levels. For this purpose, this dissertation uses five research articles to analyze the significance of coworking spaces on a micro, meso, and macro-level. The first article analyzes user preferences in three different countries using stated choice experiments. This study serves first to understand why individuals use coworking spaces and second, what features of the workspaces are valued by users. This allows coworking space operators to design their spaces in a more targeted way and adapt them to local markets and conditions. The second research article examines coworking spaces from a real estate perspective (meso level). From the perspective of commercial users, the value proposition for firms through the use of coworking spaces is outlined and empirically validated. Furthermore, the business model of flexible office space is examined and the implications for investors of this innovative operating model are elaborated. The third study explores corporate coworking spaces and analyzes determinants that influence job satisfaction in this work environment. The study forms the interface between the micro and meso levels. The fourth article situates coworking spaces for public administration, so-called “public coworking spaces,” in the scientific debate, as knowledge workers in public administration have special requirements that differ from the private sector. The fifth research article situates coworking spaces in an entrepreneurial context and examines these new work environments on a macro level. It explores how start-ups relate to coworking spaces and how the life cycle stage of start-ups is dependent on the product market competition of coworking spaces. The study finds a positive relation between the number of coworking spaces and start-ups in a region and thus has important implications for economic development and regional growth. This dissertation, therefore, extends the understanding that coworking spaces are more than just physical workspaces. They represent a complex and multi-layered social system that influences individuals, firms, and society on different levels. The systematic examination across all actors and perspectives allows for a holistic picture of these new workspaces as well as their influence on the future development of new work. In addition to the scientific contribution, recommendations for practitioners are given. These are intended to assist decision-makers in the irreversible process of new ways of working.