Work from Home, Stock Market Participation, and Inequality

Abstract

Stock market participation among working household heads jumped upwards in the year 2020, in Germany by about 25%. A major cause is the required use of work from home (WfH). We show this by repeating a benchmark study with demanding data requests and adding WfH to the explanatory variables. Moreover, we implement an instrumental variables estimation based on industry-specific levels of WfH-capacity. The transmission channels seem to work via increased available time and time flexibility. Moreover, we show that WfH makes the stock market accessible to a broader population, including lower income groups, which may contribute to lower income inequality.