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Smart-working: Work flexibility without constraints
19 January 2022, 1:00 pm–2:00 pm
In this webinar, Paola Profeta will discuss whether removing the constraints of time and place of work increases the utility of workers and firms.
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
Francesca Foliano
Paola will talk about a randomised experiment carried out with a sample of workers in a large Italian company. In this study, the workers were randomly divided between a treated group that engages in flexible space and time job (which we call "smart-working") of one day per week for nine months, and a control group that continues to work traditionally.
By comparing treated and control, they find causal evidence that the flexibility of smart-working increases the productivity of workers. The results show a decrease of days of leave which corresponds to 0.19 standard deviations and an increase of monthly productivity from the sixth month equal to 0.4 standard deviations.
The authors also find a sizeable improvement of well-being (satisfaction with life in general increases by 0.29 standard deviations) and work-life balance, with men increasing the time dedicated to household and care activities.
This event will be particularly useful for those interested in labour economics.
Related links
About the Speaker
Paola Profeta
Professor of Public Economics at Bocconi University
Her work is on public economics and political economics (of taxation and pensions) and on gender economics. She is the director of the AXA Research Lab on Gender Equality, Bocconi.