Impacts of Inter-Firm Relations on the Adoption of Remote Work : Evidence from a Survey in Japan During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Firms were requested to introduce remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their responses varied. This paper focuses on inter-firm relations, as the costs and benefits of introducing remote work are likely to differ depending on the firms’ relationships with other firms. We combine our unique survey on the responses of Japanese firms to the COVID-19 pandemic with inter-firm relation data. We find that firms sourcing from more suppliers before the pandemic are significantly more likely to adopt remote work during the pandemic even after controlling for firm size. Ownership linkages also have a positive impact on remote work adoption