valuations of alternative work characteristics. The online survey took about 15 minutes to complete on average, and could be done on a mobile phone or a laptop/ desktop computer. The full survey questionnaire including the experimental module are appended in Annex 1.

# 2. Methodology

We attempt to understand better the reasons underlying heterogeneity in workers’ preferences for flexibility and draw lessons for management practices and wider employment policies. We deploy a vignette-based discrete choice experiment to ascertain whether workers in non-standard employment are willing to forgo defined percentages of their current incomes to have greater flexibility in the choice of the location of work (home v/s office) and the hours of work (fixed v/s determined by the worker/ employer). We describe this vignette experiment in Figure 1 and Figure 2 below, that describe the characteristics of Job A, and four versions of Job B, each of which vary only in terms of flexibility (of the location of work in Figure 1 and hours of work in Figure 2), shown in row 3, and the associated income from such a job, shown in row 7. While each respondent sees the same description of Job A, s/he is shown one randomly assigned job description from B1-B4, and is asked to choose their preferred job between the two.

Figure 1: Range of Hypothetical Jobs offered to respondent to choose from: Location of Work (Job A versus one out of Jobs B1 – B4)

||**Standard**|**Most F**|**lexible**|**More Flexible**|**than standard**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Job A**|**Job B1**|**Job B2**|**Job B3**|**Job B4**|
|**Hours worked**<br>**per week**|40 hours|40 hours|40 hours|40 hours|40 hours|
|**Work Hours**|Monday to Friday, 9<br>AM to 5 PM|Monday to Friday, 9 AM<br>to 5 PM|Monday to Friday, 9 AM<br>to 5 PM|Monday to Friday, 9 AM<br>to 5 PM|Monday to Friday, 9 AM<br>to 5 PM|
|**Location of**<br>**Work**|Fixed Office|WFH 5d/ week|WFH 5d/ week|WFH 2d of your choice/<br>week|WFH 2d of your choice/<br>week|
|**Retirement**<br>**Pension**|Regular pension after<br>retirement (age 60)<br>based on years of<br>service in this job|<br>Regular pension after<br>retirement (age 60)<br>based on years of service<br>in this job|Regular pension after<br>retirement (age 60)<br>based on years of service<br>in this job|<br>Regular pension after<br>retirement (age 60) based<br>on years of service in this<br>job|<br> <br>Regular pension after<br>retirement (age 60) based<br>on years of service in this<br>job|
|**Health**<br>**Insurance**|Included in<br>compensation<br>package|Included in<br>compensation package|Included in<br>compensation package|Included in compensation<br>package|<br>Included in compensation<br>package|
|**Unemployment**<br>**Insurance**|No unemployment<br>insurance|No unemployment<br>insurance|No unemployment<br>insurance|No unemployment<br>insurance|No unemployment<br>insurance|
|**Monthly Take-**<br>**Home Salary**|Equal to your current<br>take-home salary|**10% less**than your<br>current take-home salary|**20% less**than your<br>current take-home salary|<br>**10% less**than your<br>current take-home salary|**20% less**than your<br>current take-home salary|

_Note: The respondent is shown Job A, and one of Jobs B1, B2, B3 and B4 (randomly assigned), and asked to choose their preferred job between the two._ 4