Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series,
Research Institute of Industrial Economics

No 1498: Individualism and Working from Home

Jan Bietenbeck (), Natalie Irmert and Therese Nilsson ()
Additional contact information
Jan Bietenbeck: Department of Economics, Lund University
Natalie Irmert: Department of Economics, Lund University
Therese Nilsson: Department of Economics, Lund University, and, Postal: Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: This paper investigates the role of individualism in explaining cross-country differences in working from home (WFH). Using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) of the United States and the European Social Survey (ESS), we isolate the influence of individualism by comparing immigrants from different cultural backgrounds residing in the same location. We find that a 10-point increase in country-of-origin individualism, measured on a 0-100 scale, is associated with a 3.9 percentage point (pp) higher likelihood of WFH and 1.12 more weekly WFH hours in the CPS, and a 2 pp higher likelihood of frequent WFH in the ESS. Our analysis of potential mechanisms suggests that individualism influences WFH through higher educational attainment and occupational selection.

Keywords: Working from home; Individualism; Culture; Epidemiological approach

JEL-codes: D22; E24; J20; L23

Language: English

28 pages, August 27, 2024

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