Working Paper: NBER ID: w26948
Authors: Jonathan I. Dingel; Brent Neiman
Abstract: Evaluating the economic impact of "social distancing" measures taken to arrest the spread of COVID-19 raises a fundamental question about the modern economy: how many jobs can be performed at home? We classify the feasibility of working at home for all occupations and merge this classification with occupational employment counts. We find that 37 percent of jobs in the United States can be performed entirely at home, with significant variation across cities and industries. These jobs typically pay more than jobs that cannot be done at home and account for 46 percent of all US wages. Applying our occupational classification to 85 other countries reveals that lower-income economies have a lower share of jobs that can be done at home.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: D24; J22; J61; O30; R12; R32
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| job characteristics (M54) | ability to work remotely (J62) |
| economic development (O29) | feasibility of remote work (J61) |
| GDP per capita (O49) | share of jobs that can be done at home (J22) |
| classification of jobs (L00) | actual work-from-home behavior during COVID-19 (J29) |