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The Valuation of Flexible Work Arrangements : Insights from a Discrete Choice Experiment in Malaysia

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  • Ghorpade,Yashodhan
  • Binti Jasmin,Alyssa Farha
  • Abdur Rahman,Amanina Binti

Abstract

The changing nature of work, accelerated by the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in several fundamental shifts in the terms and conditions of work. Along with the clear trend of increased nonstandard employment, including through the gig economy and platform work, this poses critical questions for policies and practices of the organization of work arrangements, and about who may bear the costs of emerging arrangements. This paper explores whether workers in freelancing and standard work arrangements in Malaysia view a trade-off between flexibility and income and are willing to forgo a share of earnings for greater flexibility. The paper deploys a novel discrete choice experiment in which respondents are asked to choose their preferred job from two hypothetical job descriptions with randomly assigned attributes, namely, flexibility and associated earnings. The findings show substantial but not overwhelming preference for greater flexibility, especially among freelancers, and a clear trade-off between measures of flexibility and income. The findings also show considerable variation in the preference for flexibility, much of which is not explained by worker demographics and other observable characteristics but is consistent with other measures of the importance attached to flexibility and earning income. The analysis outlines pathways through which offering even a modicum of flexibility can enhance workers’ utility without necessarily increasing costs for employers, provides evidence of considerable preference heterogeneity, and warns against imposing uniform approaches to (in)flexible work arrangements.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghorpade,Yashodhan & Binti Jasmin,Alyssa Farha & Abdur Rahman,Amanina Binti, 2023. "The Valuation of Flexible Work Arrangements : Insights from a Discrete Choice Experiment in Malaysia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10630, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10630
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. M. Keith Chen & Judith A. Chevalier & Peter E. Rossi & Emily Oehlsen, 2019. "The Value of Flexible Work: Evidence from Uber Drivers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(6), pages 2735-2794.
    2. Michael Gibbs & Friederike Mengel & Christoph Siemroth, 2023. "Work from Home and Productivity: Evidence from Personnel and Analytics Data on Information Technology Professionals," Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 7-41.
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