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Work from home and household behaviors

Author

Listed:
  • Molina, Jose Alberto
  • Salvatierra, Alba
  • Velilla, Jorge

Abstract

This paper analyzes work from home from a household perspective, focusing on its various relationships with spouses’ wages, household labor supply, expenditures, and chores. We use a collective model that predicts that work-from-home decisions result from joint utility maximization. Using data from the PSID (2011-2021), we find that both partners’ wages and hours are associated with their own and their spouse’s WFH status in pooled specifications, but these associations weaken substantially when accounting for endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity. Instrumental variable estimates suggest that wage effects are partly driven by occupational sorting, while fixed effects models reveal that changes in WFH status are strongly correlated across spouses but largely unrelated to short-term changes in wages or hours. Implications point to the need for models of remote work that incorporate intra-household dynamics, and to the importance of recognizing WFH as a negotiated outcome rather than an individual choice.

Suggested Citation

  • Molina, Jose Alberto & Salvatierra, Alba & Velilla, Jorge, 2025. "Work from home and household behaviors," MPRA Paper 124906, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:124906
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. José Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina & Jorge Velilla, 2023. "Should We Cheer Together? Gender Differences in Instantaneous Well-being: An Application to COVID-19 Lockdowns," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 529-562, February.
    2. Nicholas Bloom & James Liang & John Roberts & Zhichun Jenny Ying, 2015. "Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(1), pages 165-218.
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    4. Alexandros Theloudis & Jorge Velilla & Pierre-André Chiappori & José Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina, 2025. "Commitment and the Dynamics of Household Labour Supply," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 135(665), pages 354-386.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    work from home; collective model; PSID data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • D79 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Other
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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