Geographic and behavioral aspects of home-work communications: The case of Jakarta, Indonesia

The purpose of this study is to examine factors influencing people's willingness to use new telecommunications technology (NTT) tools as their means of home-work communication, also called ‘telecommuting.’ The study also explores ways of solving urban transportation problems through the availability of NTT facilities and the possibility of implementing telecommuting practices. The outcomes of this study are expected to assist the formulation of future policies and provide insights about emerging phenomena that may have implications in regard to urban land use and transportation planning.; The methodology of the study involves an extensive review of past studies, research reports, and other publications that are strongly associated with the study's purposes. Primary data were gathered through administering questionnaires to employees and employers. Stratified sampling selection is based on the geographical location of the offices, the types of jobs, and job status (employees and employers).; The data, which were gathered from 364 employees and 79 employers, are analyzed through both descriptive and inferential statistics. Data management and analysis of association are carefully handled by using spreadsheet and SAS statistical software packages. The ‘probit’ principle is used for ‘xy’ graph correlation. The chi-square test of significance is also used for both bivariate r x c contingency tables and multivariate logistic regression analysis.; The results of the study indicate that there are nineteen variables that are significantly associated and appear to be the best predictors of workers' willingness to use or reject NTT tools as the means of home-work communication. These results prevail at least during the duration of the study. The study explains that employees generally prefer to work at home if additional costs are not involved. Respondents' proficiency level with computer software packages, daily time of using computers, and age are some of the strongest influences affecting employees' adoption of telecommuting. Also, executives generally support telecommuting and see telecommuting as having positive impact on a firm's productivity. They support the idea of utilizing NTT as a home-work communication device.