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21st century economic development: Telework and its impact on local income
Author(s) -
Gallardo Roberto,
Whitacre Brian
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
regional science policy and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.342
H-Index - 8
ISSN - 1757-7802
DOI - 10.1111/rsp3.12117
Subject(s) - workforce , telecommuting , productivity , educational attainment , demographic economics , american community survey , work (physics) , business , nature versus nurture , labour economics , economics , census , economic growth , sociology , mechanical engineering , population , demography , engineering , anthropology
Telework, or telecommuting, is gaining increasing attention at the national level. However, the impact it has on local economies is not well understood. Theoretically, teleworking may result in higher levels of worker satisfaction and productivity, which in turn leads to increased income levels. In an effort to contribute to this important topic, this paper analyses census‐tract level work from home statistics from the 2011–2015 American Community Survey. Results from a maximum likelihood regression using a spatial Durbin error model (SDEM) indicate that after controlling for various factors such as employment by industry, educational attainment, and broadband availability, the percentage of residents working from home in both salaried and self‐employed jobs had a positive and significant impact on median household income. Importantly, spillovers from levels of telework in neighbouring communities are also shown to exist, although the direction of impact differs by worker category. The implications of this research support the need to modify current economic and workforce development policies to better nurture, attract, and retain teleworkers. A series of policy recommendations are discussed to help jumpstart this process.