The differences of firm resources and the adoption of teleworking

This paper studies the differences of firm resources between teleworking firms and non-teleworking firms. The results indicate that teleworking firms use more information and communication technologies, invest more resources in R&D, have a larger percentage of knowledge workers and salespeople in the workforce, and have a larger geographical market. The employees have greater access to the Internet and electronic communication, are more trained in the use of information and communication technologies, and are more involved in their job design and planning. Regarding the business organisation, teleworking firms use more human resource flexible practices and variable compensation, outsource more activities, and manage employees by objectives.     

The rural telecommuter surplus in Southwestern Ontario,Canada

This paper asks the question: what kind of economic benefits do rural telecommuters experience in Southwestern Ontario? This is a relevant question in Canada where, according to Statistics Canada (2017) one in 14 people work from home. This paper presents an overview of the current literature on telecommuting. We estimate the telecommuter surplus in Southwestern Ontario where the region is currently deploying one of Canada's largest publicly-funded ultra-high-speed broadband initiatives known as SouthWest Integrated Fibre Technology Inc. (SWIFT). The analysis is based on SWIFT residential and farm surveys (n?=?3948) conducted in 2017. We find that an average telecommuter's surplus in terms of costs saved, including opportunity cost ranges from $8820 to $23964 per annum per telecommuter, depending on the number of days telecommuted per week for home and primary residence dwelling type. The social net benefits of telecommuting differ from its private net benefit (the focus of our paper) since the former includes both positive and negative externalities associated with telecommuting such as reduced traffic congestion, reduced probability of road accidents, as well as some workers shirking their duties (a negative impact). We leave this for future work.     

Working online or offline: Which is more effective?

Teleworking is becoming increasingly prevalent due to the rapid technological development and the spread of COVID-19. Despite the great convenience, questions about its productivity arise. Using regression analysis and difference-in-differences analysis, this study examines the effectiveness of teleworking by comparing the informativeness of analysts’ online and offline corporate visits. An empirical analysis shows that analysts’ forecasts are accurate after offline visits. This finding suggests that teleworking is less productive than on-site work. We further exclude explanations on fatigue and affiliation and confirm this finding’s robustness with alternative forecast performance measures. Additionally, teleworking impacts forecast accuracy based on analyst experience, resources, firm visibility, and transparency. Our results reveal a potential channel through which the COVID-19 crisis influences capital market transparency and overall economic output.     

Assessing the road safety impacts of a teleworking policy by means of geographically weighted regression method

Travel demand management (TDM) consists of a variety of policy measures that affect the effectiveness of transportation systems by changing travel behavior. The primary objective of such TDM strategies is not to improve traffic safety, although their impact on traffic safety should not be neglected. The main purpose of this study is to simulate the traffic safety impact of conducting a teleworking scenario (i.e. 5% of the working population engages in teleworking) in the study area, Flanders, Belgium. Since TDM strategies are usually conducted at a geographically aggregated level, crash prediction models should also be developed at an aggregate level. Given that crash occurrences are often spatially heterogeneous and are affected by many spatial variables, the existence of spatial correlation in the data is also examined. The results indicate the necessity of accounting for the spatial correlation when developing crash prediction models. Therefore, zonal crash prediction models (ZCPMs) within the geographically weighted generalized linear modeling framework are developed to incorporate the spatial variations in association between the number of crashes (including fatal, severe and slight injury crashes recorded between 2004 and 2007) and other explanatory variables. Different exposure, network and socio-demographic variables of 2200 traffic analysis zones (TAZs) are considered as predictors of crashes. An activity-based transportation model framework is adopted to produce detailed exposure metrics. This enables to conduct a more detailed and reliable assessment while TDM strategies are inherently modeled in the activity-based models. In this study, several ZCPMs with different severity levels and crash types are developed to predict crash counts for both the null and the teleworking scenario. The results show a considerable traffic safety benefit of conducting the teleworking scenario due to its impact on the reduction of total vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) by 3.15%. Implementing the teleworking scenario is predicted to reduce the annual VKT by 1.43 billion and the total number of crashes to decline by 2.6%.     

远程办公组织的运营成本分析

本文主要分析了远程办公组织的运营成本结构模型,论述了成本组成结构及其变化。在此基础上,给出支持公司组织办公模式选择决策的数学模型。     

Internet: investigating new technology's evolving role, nature and effects on transport

In the space of only a few years the Internet has emerged as a mainstream communications medium providing a growing proportion of the population with virtual access to goods, people, opportunities and services. Against a backdrop of highlighting how teleshopping and teleworking alongside traveller information services are advancing as a consequence of the Internet, this paper suggests that the Internet and the virtual mobility it affords must in due course be explicitly addressed within an integrated transport policy. The paper explores the relationships between use of information and communications technology and personal travel highlighting the importance of social issues in gauging whether or not a net positive effect in terms of travel demand and tripmaking can arise from increasing use of the Internet. Suggestions for a policy approach are also made.     

The economic and organizational aspects of telecentres: the Spanish case

In this paper we present the following concept: the economic and organizational characteristics and the main aspects of the development of telecentres or telework centres, in a wide-ranging context of the use of telecommunications as an instrument to aid social-economic development of deprived rural and urban areas. To be more specific, we analyse how these Telework Centres are set up in diverse information related service enterprises aimed at other businesses or individuals. These initiatives are being subsidized by different public organisms as pilot development aid projects on an international scale. We have made an empirical study on a national scale, using 27 sample centres, from which we have obtained, amongst other things, the characteristics, economic objectives and results achieved from the initiatives that are underway in Spain or that are expected to be achieved from the setting up of these centres. Finally, we present our conclusions on the subject and list the literature used.