Is Work from Home Good for the Environment?

Rainald Borck, Matthias Kalkuhl and Kai Lessmann

No 12300, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: The work-from-home (WFH) revolution is reshaping economic activities and location choices with potentially important implications for environmental pollution. We use a quantitative spatial model calibrated to the German economy to assess the effects of increasing WFH from pre- to post-pandemic levels on pollution from commuting, residential and office buildings, and industrial production. We find that residential population moves from large cities to suburbs and smaller cities, while jobs concentrate in urban centers. A decrease in equilibrium commuting frequency by 18 percentage points reduces nation-wide emission of particulate matter (PM2.5) by 1.9% and carbon dioxide emissions by 2.2%. Commuting emissions decrease by 20.2% – despite a substantial rebound effect induced by a 9% increase in commuting distances. Residential emissions barely change, while there is a shift from on-site to remote office emissions. Pollution falls most strongly in rural counties and least in dense urban ones.

Keywords: work from home; pollution; commuting; energy use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q53 Q54 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12300

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