There's very little in the way of evidence demonstrating your "sensible" hypothesis. On the other hand, a lot of ICs have experience working in office and at home and have noticed we do better work at home.
I don't want to put words in your mouth, but every time I've had this conversation in the past it's been that last option.
And if new grads and product managers are actually able to easily disrupt an IC who is concentrating, that is a sh*tty workplace.