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Smart-working: Work Flexibility Without Constraints

Number: 137
Year: 2020
Author(s): Marta Angelici , Paola Profeta,
Does removing the constraints of time and place of work increase the utility of workers and firms? We design a randomized experiment on a sample of workers in a large Italian company: workers are randomly divided into a treated group that engages in flexible space and time job (which we call “smart-working”) one day per week for 9 months and a control group that continues to work traditionally. By comparing the treated and control workers, we find causal evidence that the flexibility of smart-working increases the productivity of workers and improves their well-being and work-life balance. We also observe that the effects are stronger for women and that there are no significant spillover effects within workers of a team.

Marta Angelici, Bicocca University and Dondena

Paola Profeta,  Bocconi University  and Dondena





Language: English

The paper may be downloaded here.
The appendix may be downloaded here.