Remote Work as a Policy Tool for Easing Megacity Overcrowding

Abstract

This study explores the effectiveness of remote work as a policy tool to alleviate overcrowding in South Korea's metropolitan areas. By analyzing the prevalence of remote work across industries and the industrial composition of workers in various regions, we conduct counterfactual simulations to assess the impact of worker relocation from Seoul and its surrounding areas to other parts of the country. Our findings indicate that if 30 percent of remote work–eligible employees choose to relocate, the share of Seoul and its surrounding areas in total population of the country could decrease from 51 percent to 48 percent—a significantly larger impact than previous policy interventions, which achieved population shifts of less than 0.1 percentage points. These results suggest that remote work may offer a viable and effective strategy for addressing the issue of excessive population concentration in Seoul and its surrounding areas.