What Is the Price of Freedom? Estimating Women’s Willingness to Pay for Job Schedule Flexibility

Abstract

We conducted a discrete choice experiment to elicit women’s revealed preferences regarding job schedule flexibility (flexible scheduling and part-time employment) in a developing country context. We did so with an incentivized methodology for job seekers. On average, women have a high willingness to pay for a flexible schedule within a full-time contract but a much lower desire to trade wages for part-time contracts. The willingness to pay for a flexible work arrangement is largest for more affluent women, while willingness to pay for part-time employment is highest among those with higher time demands.