IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/cesisp/0498.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Exposure to remote work and probability of long-distance commuting: evidence from pandemic lockdowns

Author

Listed:
  • Johansson, Eleanor

    (Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.)

  • Nilsson, Pia

    (Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.)

  • Larsson, Johan P

    (Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, UK.)

  • Naldi, Lucia

    (Centre for Family Business and Entrepreneurship CeFEO, Jönköping University, Jönköping Sweden.)

  • Westlund, Hans

    (Department of Urban and Regional Studies, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.)

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate how the lockdown-induced exposure to remote work affected the likelihood of switching to longer commutes using a longitudinal full-population register of Swedish employees. We find that employees with little experience of longer commutes were more likely to start commuting longer if they had occupations with high potential for remote work. Examining heterogeneity across sectors, this is especially evident among high-skilled workers in sectors with low pre-existing shares of remote work and longer commutes. Our findings are important for understanding regional expansion and spatial extensions of labour markets in a world where more work can be done remotely.

Suggested Citation

  • Johansson, Eleanor & Nilsson, Pia & Larsson, Johan P & Naldi, Lucia & Westlund, Hans, 2024. "Exposure to remote work and probability of long-distance commuting: evidence from pandemic lockdowns," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 498, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, revised 24 Feb 2025.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0498
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://static.sys.kth.se/itm/wp/cesis/cesiswp498.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barrero, Jose Maria & Bloom, Nick & Davis, Steven J., 2020. "Why Working From Home Will Stick," SocArXiv wfdbe, Center for Open Science.
    2. Adams-Prassl, Abi & Boneva, Teodora & Golin, Marta & Rauh, Christopher, 2022. "Work that can be done from home: evidence on variation within and across occupations and industries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Kent Eliasson & Urban Lindgren & Olle Westerlund, 2003. "Geographical Labour Mobility: Migration or Commuting?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(8), pages 827-837.
    4. Adams-Prassl, Abi & Boneva, Teodora & Golin, Marta & Rauh, Christopher, 2020. "Inequality in the impact of the coronavirus shock: Evidence from real time surveys," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    5. Dargay, Joyce M. & Clark, Stephen, 2012. "The determinants of long distance travel in Great Britain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 576-587.
    6. Delventhal, Matthew J. & Kwon, Eunjee & Parkhomenko, Andrii, 2022. "JUE Insight: How do cities change when we work from home?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    7. Efthymia Kyriakopoulou & Pierre M Picard, 2023. "The Zoom city: working from home, urban productivity and land use," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(6), pages 1397-1437.
    8. Börje Johansson & Johan Klaesson & Michael Olsson, 2002. "Time distances and labor market integration," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 81(3), pages 305-327.
    9. Sostero Matteo & Milasi Santo & Hurley John & Fernandez-Macias Enrique & Bisello Martina, 2023. "Teleworkability and the COVID-19 crisis: potential and actual prevalence of remote work across Europe," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 13(1), pages 1-25, January.
    10. Tony Champion & Mike Coombes & David L. Brown, 2009. "Migration and Longer-Distance Commuting in Rural England," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(10), pages 1245-1259, December.
    11. Matthias Wrede, 2013. "Heterogeneous skills, migration, and commuting," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(2), pages 345-360, June.
    12. Stephan J. Goetz & Yicheol Han & Jill L. Findeis & Kathryn J. Brasier, 2010. "U.S. Commuting Networks and Economic Growth: Measurement and Implications for Spatial Policy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 276-302, June.
    13. Mauro Caselli & Andrea Fracasso & Sergio Scicchitano, 2022. "From the lockdown to the new normal: individual mobility and local labor market characteristics following the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 1517-1550, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Behrens, Kristian & Kichko, Sergei & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2024. "Working from home: Too much of a good thing?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    2. Luca, Davide & Özgüzel, Cem & Wei, Zhiwu, 2024. "The spatially uneven diffusion of remote jobs in Europe," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122651, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Christian Kagerl & Julia Starzetz, 2023. "Working from home for good? Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and what this means for the future of work," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 229-265, January.
    4. Masayuki Morikawa, 2022. "Work‐from‐home productivity during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Evidence from Japan," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 508-527, April.
    5. Alipour, Jean-Victor & Falck, Oliver & Schüller, Simone, 2023. "Germany’s capacity to work from home," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Burdett, Ashley & Etheridge, Ben & Tang, Li & Wang, Yikai, 2024. "Worker productivity during Covid-19 and adaptation to working from home," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    7. Bamieh, Omar & Ziegler, Lennart, 2022. "Are remote work options the new standard? Evidence from vacancy postings during the COVID-19 crisis," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Fischer, Kai & Reade, J. James & Schmal, W. Benedikt, 2022. "What cannot be cured must be endured: The long-lasting effect of a COVID-19 infection on workplace productivity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Cseres-Gergely, Zsombor & Kecht, Valentin & Le Blanc, Julia & Onorante, Luca, 2024. "The economic impact of general vs. targeted lockdowns: New insights from Italian municipalities," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    10. Esposito, Piero & Mendolia, Silvia & Scicchitano, Sergio & Tealdi, Cristina, 2024. "Working from Home and Job Satisfaction: The Role of Gender and Personality Traits," IZA Discussion Papers 16751, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Jean-Victor Alipour & Oliver Falck & Simon Krause & Carla Krolage & Sebastian Wichert, 2022. "Working from Home and Consumption in Cities," CESifo Working Paper Series 10000, CESifo.
    12. Mueller-Langer, Frank & Gómez-Herrera, Estrella, 2022. "Mobility restrictions and the substitution between on-site and remote work: Empirical evidence from a European online labour market," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    13. Maite Blázquez & Ainhoa Herrarte & Ana I. Moro Egido, 2022. "Gender differences on the labor market transitions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. The role of teleworking," ThE Papers 22/17, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    14. Blázquez, Maite & Herrarte, Ainhoa & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2023. "Gender differences in the effect of teleworking on job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    15. Kosteas, Vasilios D. & Renna, Francesco & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2022. "Covid-19 and Working from Home: toward a "new normal"?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1013, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    16. Ritsu KITAGAWA & Sachiko KURODA & Hiroko OKUDAIRA & Hideo OWAN, 2021. "Working from Home: Its Effects on Productivity and Mental Health," Discussion papers 21024, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Vij, Akshay & Souza, Flavio F. & Barrie, Helen & Anilan, V. & Sarmiento, Sergio & Washington, Lynette, 2023. "Employee preferences for working from home in Australia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 782-800.
    18. Markus Nagler & Johannes Rincke & Erwin Winkler, 2024. "Working from home, commuting, and gender," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(3), pages 1-23, September.
    19. Siv Schéele & Gunnar Andersson, 2018. "Municipality attraction and commuter mobility in urban Sweden: An analysis based on longitudinal population data," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(9), pages 1875-1903, July.
    20. Masayuki Morikawa, 2023. "Productivity dynamics of remote work during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(3), pages 317-331, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour mobility; Commuting distance; Remote work: Knowledge-intensive sectors; Covid-19;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0498. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Vardan Hovsepyan (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cekthse.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.