Working from Home, Wages, and Regional Inequality in the Light of COVID-19

Michael Irlacher and Koch Michael ()
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Koch Michael: Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), 2021, vol. 241, issue 3, 373-404

Abstract: We use the most recent wave of the German Qualifications and Career Survey to reveal a substantial wage premium in a Mincer regression for workers performing their job from home. The premium accounts for more than 10% and persists within narrowly defined jobs as well as after controlling for workplace characteristics. In a next step, we provide evidence on substantial regional variation in the share of jobs that can be done from home in Germany. Our analysis reveals a strong, positive relation between the share of jobs with working from home opportunities and the mean worker income in a district. Assuming that jobs with the opportunity of remote work are more crisis proof, our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic might affect poorer regions to a greater extent. Hence, examining regional disparities is central for policy-makers in choosing economic policies to mitigate the consequences of this crisis.

Keywords: working from home; COVID-19; regional disparities; home office; BIBB-BAuA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H12 J22 J31 R10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Working from Home, Wages, and Regional Inequality in the Light of Covid-19 (2020)
Working Paper: Working from home, wages, and regional inequality in the light of COVID-19 (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:241:y:2021:i:3:p:373-404:n:2

DOI: 10.1515/jbnst-2020-0030

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