Optimal teleworking agreements vs. yearning for normality when vaccine is on the horizon

During a pandemic, companies may adopt teleworking agreements even if they lower current productivity. If managers (or policymakers) want to project an image of ``return to normality'', completely orthogonal to any economic or health outcomes, the scope of teleworking agreements is lower but constant in a stationary equilibrium. In response to the news about upcoming vaccine, rational managers always increase the scope of teleworking agreements, unless the desire to project the image of ``return to normality'' is sufficiently strong, effectively creating a reopening-smoothing motive. The ``return to normality'' may be premature if managers do not understand Lucas' Critique.

Unpublished version

Published version

2021
@article{rothert2021optimal, title={Optimal teleworking agreements vs. yearning for normality when vaccine is on the horizon}, author={Rothert, Jacek and others}, journal={Economics Bulletin}, volume={41}, number={3}, pages={2106--2115}, year={2021}, publisher={AccessEcon} }