'And, it's part of the growth in the information economy because these are information services. If we don't get into it, I guess it's another new economy that we are not part of,' he says. 'I think New Zealand has potential to grow in this area because we are interestingly placed time-wise and skill-wise.'

Thorns' and Leonard's research is among the first to investigate online working in New Zealand, but research from the UK shows that there are about a million workers there who claim they are home-based workers, says Thorns.

The study looks at online, home-based workers who perform routine jobs, such as data entry, data processing or transcription services, as opposed to people with professional jobs choosing to work from home. The study is based on information from New Zealand online workers employed by a global company.

Nearly all the online workers who participated in the study are women.

'One of the interesting gender aspects that has come through internationally is that men who work from home have to have an office, whereas women who work from home will not necessarily have a dedicated place. They will find space,' says Thorns.