The Economics of Multitasking

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

People regularly multitask, though we have been warned about the mental costs of task-switching in psychology and the popular press. Meanwhile, economists have remained silent on the possible economic ramifications - both good and bad - of producers and/or consumers doing more than one thing at once. This first-of-its-kind volume explores the frequency, patterns, and economic implications of multitasking, with a particular focus on the multitasking of non-market activities such as child care, housework, eating, and studying. Using data sets from around the world and best-practice empirical and experimental techniques, the contributors to this volume explore the association of multitasking with output and welfare in a range of settings of interest to economists. Contributions in theory, empirical work, data management, and concepts are combined to yield the discipline’s first holistic view of multitasking and to identify where the research frontiers lie in this area.