Work-from-home productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Japan

Masayuki Morikawa

doi:10.1111/ecin.13056

Work-from-home productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Japan

Econ Inq. 2022 Apr;60(2):508-527. doi: 10.1111/ecin.13056. Epub 2021 Nov 22.

Author

Masayuki Morikawa^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Hitotsubashi University Kunitachi Tokyo Japan.
² Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) Chiyoda-ku Tokyo Japan.

Abstract

This study examines the productivity of working from home (WFH) practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results reveal that the mean WFH productivity relative to working at the usual workplace was about 60%-70%, and it was lower for employees and firms that started WFH practice only after the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there was a large dispersion of WFH productivity, both by individual and firm characteristics. Highly educated and high-wage employees tended to exhibit a small reduction in WFH productivity. The results obtained from the employee and employer surveys were generally consistent with each other.

Keywords: COVID‐19; productivity; social distancing; working from home.