Analyzing the Determinants of Teleworking during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an unprecedented increase in telework, a trend expected to have lasting effects on the labor market and commuting patterns, including location preferences. Understanding the demand for telework is critical to face the challenges that may come in present and future scenarios with hybrid work arrangements. In this paper, a model for the probability of telework is proposed and estimated with data collected during two different periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, in Chile. The model measures the correlation between several socioeconomic characteristics, and latent variables related to concerns about health and the economy, with the probability of teleworking. We find that low-income workers are less likely to telework, and that females are more likely to work from home. Latent variables also played a relevant role at the beginning of the pandemic: a greater concern about health issues increased the probability of teleworking. In comparison, a greater concern about the economic effects of the pandemic had the opposite impact. However, these effects shifted 10 weeks into the pandemic, when a total lockdown was imposed in the largest city. The implications of our findings for both policy and research after the pandemic are discussed.