Abstract:This report investigates the preference to telecommute from home and from a center. Current studies about telecommuting and the modeling of telecommuting preference are discussed. Survey data were collected from center-based telecommuters, home-based telecommuters, and non-telecommuters, as part of a telecommuting center demonstration project in California. Factor analysis was performed on questions relating to job satisfaction and attitudes about work characteristics. Using these factor scores, as well as travel and sociodemographic variables, the preferences to work from the telecommuting center and to work from home were modeled. Logit models for center preference (ρ² = 0.70), home preference (ρ² = 0.76), and center vs. home preference (ρ² = 0.88) were estimated. The most frequently significant characteristics were personal benefits at the center, work ethic at home, and age. Further research into multinomial logit models of preference using the factor scores as generic and alternative-specific variables is suggested.

Note:Master's Thesis.