Adopting telework: The causal impact of working from home on subjective well‐being
利用新冠疫情期间居家令排除自我选择偏差，用双重差分法识别在家工作对主观幸福感的因果效应，发现全职远程办公恶化心理健康，但兼职远程办公有微弱正面影响，且存在适应过程，尤其有孩子的女性幸福感下降更明显。
Abstract We study the impact of work from home (WFH) on subjective well‐being during the Covid period, where self‐selection of individuals into telework is ruled out, at least part of the time, by stay‐at‐home orders. We use a difference‐in‐differences approach with individual fixed effects and identify the specific impact of switching to telecommuting, separately from any other confounding factor. In particular, our identification strategy avoids the influence of interpersonal heterogeneity by exploiting the multiple entries into WFH, by the same individuals, at different times. On average over the period, switching to WFH, especially full‐time, worsens mental health. We also find a positive but imprecisely measured impact of part‐time WFH on life satisfaction. However, this hides a dynamic evolution, whereby the initial deterioration gives place to an adaptation process after a couple of months. We also uncover a particularly pronounced fall in subjective well‐being of women with children, especially in the first months; this could be associated with home‐schooling.