July 12, 2022

In ‘The good that can come from strikes and pandemics’ (The Straits Times, July 2022), Professor Ivan Png (NUS Business School and Department of Economics) reckons that strikes and pandemics can bring about social benefits as well. For example, strikes that disrupt the transportation system can prompt commuters to rethink about their optimal ways to travel. A transportation method that used to be the best way may no longer be so given circumstantial changes.

Similarly, the COVID-19 pandemic has also forced employers to update their workplace policies. Since changing workplace policy is a problem of collective action instead of individual choice, Prof Png observes that it is even more difficult to change workplace polices than to change one’s travel habits. Nevertheless, while Zoom and Cisco WebEx were almost unknown before the pandemic, remote working has become very prevalent during and after the pandemic. After the pandemic, few organisations, whether for profit or non-profit, are reverting to the previous status quo of working at the office every day.

As Prof Png explains, these examples illustrate that overcoming our tendency to stick to the status quo is entirely feasible. We just need to be open-minded to confront our status quo bias and reliance on routines. Moreover, we should periodically force ourselves to re-examine our routines. The older a routine, the more likely it is to be past its ‘use-by’ date.

Read the article in The Straits Times here: https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/ask-nus-economists-the-good-that-can-come-from-strikes-and-pandemics