A Paradox of Telecommuting and Staggered Work Hours in the Bottleneck Model.

This article analyzes the long- and short-term effects of telecommuting (TLC), staggered work hours (SWH), and their combined implementation on peak-period congestion and residential location patterns using a novel integrated equilibrium model. The model unifies long-term equilibrium (residential location and office work ratio choices) and short-term equilibrium (preferred and actual arrival times) by leveraging mathematical structures akin to optimal transport problems, enabling closed-form solutions. Findings indicate that while introducing TLC or SWH individually improves worker utility and reduces commuting costs, combining SWH with TLC may paradoxically increase total commuting costs without enhancing worker utility, due to induced demand effects. The study also characterizes spatial sorting into office work, remote work, and mixed zones, and compares welfare outcomes across scenarios with and without these flexible work schemes.