Why 20% of working days will be from home

"COVID-19 drove a mass social experiment in working from home (WFH). We survey more than 30,000 Americans over multiple waves to investigate whether WFH will stick, and why. Our data say that 20 percent of full workdays will be supplied from home after the pandemic ends, compared with just 5 percent before. We develop evidence on five reasons for this large shift: better-than-expected WFH experiences, new investments in physical and human capital that enable WFH, greatly diminished stigma associated with WFH, lingering concerns about crowds and contagion risks, and a pandemic-driven surge in technological innovations that support WFH. We also use our survey data to project three consequences: First, employees will enjoy large benefits from greater remote work, especially those with higher earnings. Second, the shift to WFH will directly reduce spending in major city centers by at least 5-10 percent relative to the pre-pandemic situation. Third, our data on employer plans and the relative productivity of WFH imply a 5 percent productivity boost in the post-pandemic economy due to re-optimized working arrangements. Only one-fifth of this productivity gain will show up in conventional productivity measures, because they do not capture the time savings from less commuting." https://www.nber.org/papers/w28731#fromrss

Don't reward A and expect B

"You get a guy or a woman in charge of it—they’re personable, the directors like ’em—they don’t know what they’re doing. But they know how to put on an appearance. That’s the biggest single danger". (Warren Buffett, May 2021)

Does diversity in the boardroom increase profit?

Gray and Barry say the claim that diversity in the boardroom increases profit is not based on the evidenc. (WSJ, April 2021).

What are the limits of economies of scope?

 

HT: MURevolution, April 2021

"The social purpose of a company is to find profitable solutions to the challenges of people and planet"

Have Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Oxford economist Colin Mayer rebranded Milton Friedman's statement that “the social responsibility of business is to increase profits”? (WSJ, April 2021)

Is this the end of Barbie doll pricing for printers?

New printers are NOT charging a high price for refills of ink. (WSJ, March 2021) My question is, "What took so long?" Were consumers unable to look ahead and then reason back?

Look ahead and reason back

Tractor manufacturers are trying to lock farmers into getting repairs from their dealers. (WSJ, March 2021) One question is, "Were the manufacturers hoping to use Barbie doll pricing?"

This article finds that right to repair legislation can result in a lose-lose-lose outcome.

1. Consumers may lose because manufacturers increase the price of the tractor when the link between tractor sales and revenues from repairs decreases. 
2. Producers may lose because the increase in the price of tractors fails to offset the lose of revenue from repairs. 
3. The environment may also lose.