Title: What Affects the Preference for Flexible Work Arrangements? Evidence from Randomized Experiments in China

Speaker: Lu Yao, Tenured Professor, Department of Finance, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University; Changjiang Young Scholar of the Ministry of Education; Director of China Financial Research Center, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University; Deputy Director of Corporate Governance Center; Ph.D. in Business Administration, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, USA. She has won the Excellent Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the "Outstanding" conclusion of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Her main research fields include corporate mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, the impact of technological change on corporate investment and financing and development, labor and finance, and capital market reform and development. She has published (or accepted) more than 60 papers in top domestic and foreign academic journals, including "Journal of Finance", "Management Science", "Journal of Financial Economics", "Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis", "Review of Economics and Statistics", "Review of Finance", "Journal of Corporate Finance", "Economic Research Journal", "Management World", "World Economy", "Journal of Management Sciences", "Journal of Financial Research" and "China Economic Quarterly". She has presided over more than 20 vertical research projects. She serves as a Director of the Chinese Finance Society, Associate Editor of "Journal of Comparative Economics" and Associate Editor of "Pacific-Basin Finance Journal".

Abstract: Using a large-scale experiment conducted on one of China’s largest recruitment websites, we study whether information interventions can change job seekers’ preferences for flexible work. Providing positive information about productivity under flexible work arrangements increases the likelihood of choosing flexible work over fixed work by 8.5%, and information about performance-based pay further amplifies this effect. This impact is stronger among less experienced job seekers, males, individuals with higher self-assessed productivity, and those applying for jobs requiring limited face-to-face interaction. We also monetize the preferences and find that the work productivity information treatment significantly increases the willingness to pay (WTP) for each type of flexible work arrangement. In contrast, the performance-based pay information treatment does not significantly change WTP unless implemented in combination with the work productivity information treatment. Finally, structural estimates show that information interventions shape preferences by significantly updating beliefs about productivity under flexible work arrangements.

Date & time: 11 October 2025, 13:30-14:05

Venue: B609, Yifu Information Technology Building, Central Campus, Shandong University