Does Teleworking Affect the Labor Income Distribution? Empirical Evidence From South American Countries

Juan Cruz Varvello; Ana Inés Navarro; Jorge Camusso

doi:10.24215/18521649e045

Authors

Juan Cruz Varvello Universidad Austral, Argentina https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8174-0108
Ana Inés Navarro Universidad Austral, Argentina https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0485-5976
Jorge Camusso Universidad Austral, Argentina https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2295-7861

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24215/18521649e045

Keywords:

teleworking, inequality, income, RIF regressions, South America

Abstract

This study aims to estimate the distributional impact of teleworking on the labor income in some South American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and Uruguay. Using microdata from household surveys, our focus is on the period 2021 onwards to filter teleworking variables from temporary changes in the labor market caused by tighter restrictions on mobility during the pandemic. While in some countries we can measure effective telework, in others we approximate it based on a set of conditions that are standard in teleworking literature. Then, by using a RIF (Recentered Influence Function) regression approach, we estimate how a marginal variation in the percentage of teleworkers affects not only the mean of labor income, but also other features of the unconditional distribution, such us quantiles and some inequality indicators (Gini and Atkinson indexes). This analysis allows us to capture potential asymmetric effects of remote work across the entire unconditional income distribution. The main results show that a marginal variation in the percentage of remote workers has a positive effect on the average labor income but with asymmetries across the income distribution that could lead to an increase in inequality. Indeed, for most countries, high-income workers benefit more from a deeper teleworking penetration. Furthermore, this result is also supported by our estimates of the effect of teleworking on Gini and Atkinson inequality indexes.

Author Biographies

Juan Cruz Varvello, Universidad Austral, Argentina

Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the National University of Rosario (UNR). He completed and passed all coursework for the Master’s in Applied Economics at Austral University (UA). He is a Teaching Assistant and Researcher in the Department of Economics at UA (full-time). He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, and his research interests focus on the theoretical and empirical analysis of the labor market, regional economic activity, income distribution, entrepreneurship, and sustainability. He also participates as a researcher at the Municipal Bank Foundation of Rosario.
Ana Inés Navarro, Universidad Austral, Argentina

Ana Inés Navarro is the Research Secretary at Austral University, Rosario Campus, Full Professor and Director of the Department of Economics and of the Master’s in Applied Economics at the same institution, and Full Professor of Microeconomics at UNR. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of San Andrés, has completed postgraduate studies at the Torcuato Di Tella University, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from UNR. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, and her research interests focus on applied economics, the labor market, regional economic activity, and Agtech ecosystems.
Jorge Camusso, Universidad Austral, Argentina

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the National University of Rosario (UNR) and a Master’s in Applied Economics from Austral University (UA). He is currently pursuing a PhD in Applied and Computational Mathematics at UA. He is an Assistant Professor and Researcher in the Department of Economics at UA (full-time) and a Teaching Assistant (JTP) at UNR (part-time). He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses, and his research interests focus on the theoretical and empirical analysis of the labor market, regional economic activity, income distribution, and applied econometrics. He previously worked as a researcher at the Municipal Bank Foundation of Rosario, producing academic studies and reports.

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