New Institute Launches to Research the Benefits and Impact of Remote Work

TULSA, OK — The Remote Work Institute today announced its official launch to balance the conversation around remote work. Assembling international leaders from across industries, the Institute will work to identify, articulate, and advance the unique value of remote work for employers, employees, and communities. To support these efforts, the Institute has established a partnership with the London School of Economics and Political Science Management Department (LSE) to steer and conduct academic research into the most pressing issues shaping remote and distributed work.

"The conversation around remote work is incomplete," said Justin Harlan, Board Co-Chair and Managing Director of Tulsa Remote. "More than six years after the start of the pandemic, our discourse remains stuck on return-to-office debates, with far too little grounded in evidence-based research. The Remote Work Institute aims to elevate that conversation, giving employees, employers, and communities the data-driven insights they need to make informed decisions about the work policies that are right for them."

The Remote Work Institute will be guided by an impressive board of advisors who are shaping the future of work from academia, industry, and non-profits. These include:

• Justin Harlan, Board Co-Chair / Managing Director, Tulsa Remote
• Prithwiraj Choudhury, Board Co-Chair / Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Rebecca Hinds, Head of the Work AI Institute, Glean
• Bonnie Dilber, Recruiting Leader, Zapier
• Liba Wenig Rubenstein, Director, Future of Work Initiative, Aspen Institute
• Allison Vendt, VP, People Operations & Head of Employee Experience, Dropbox
• Timothy J. Bartik, Senior Economist, The Upjohn Institute
• Jared Lindzon, Co-author, Do More in Four: Why It's Time for a Shorter Workweek
  

"We are proud to partner with the Remote Work Institute on research that will shape how organizations and policymakers think about remote and distributed work," said Prithwiraj Choudhury, Board Co-Chair, Professor of LSE's Department of Management. "Over the past decade, my research has demonstrated that work-from-anywhere policies meaningfully boost talent, productivity, and innovation across organizations of every size and sector. Still, far too many leaders are making workforce decisions based on gut instinct rather than data. This initiative creates a vital bridge between academic inquiry and real-world impact.”

Central to the Institute's work is a partnership with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Department of Management to launch an international call for proposals inviting scholars to submit academically rigorous, practically grounded research on remote and distributed work. Priority research areas include:

• Adoption, Trends, and the Evolution of Work
• The Changing Nature of the Firm and Workplace
• The Interplay of Technology and Remote/Distributed Work
• Productivity, Performance, and Innovation
• Worker Outcomes and Experience
• Dynamics in Virtual and Distributed Teams
• Labor Markets, Talent, and Workforce Dynamics
• Regional, Economic, and Community Impacts
• Equity, Access, and Inclusion
  

Proposals are due on July 31, 2026, and can be submitted directly to LSE. The Institute and LSE will host an event on October 6, 2026 in London focusing on remote and distributed work and distributed teams, and to hear presentations from selected proposals submitted to the call for research.

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About the Remote Work Institute

‍The Remote Work Institute aims to identify, articulate, and advance the unique value of remote work for employers, employees, and communities. The Institute was founded by the team behind Tulsa Remote, the largest remote worker relocation program in the country, and the researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science who have seen firsthand the benefits of well-implemented remote and distributed work policies.