The Economics of Multitasking

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.

Charlene M. Kalenkoski is Associate Professor and Co-Director of the PhD Program in Personal Financial Planning at Texas Tech University, USA. She earned her PhD in Economics from The George Washington University, USA, in 2002. Her research focuses on how people allocate their time, particularly parents, students, and retirees, and how their allocation of time affects their human capital and overall well-being.

Gigi Foster is Associate Professor in the School of Economics at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. She earned her BA from Yale University and her PhD in economics from the University of Maryland. Her research interests and contributions lie in the areas of education, social influence, behavioral economics, and the multi-disciplinary analysis of human behavior in groups.