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The decreasing returns on working time: an empirical analysis on panel country data

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  • Gilbert Cette
  • Samuel Chang
  • Maty Konte

Abstract

An empirical analysis is conducted on two panels of 18 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries to test whether the elasticity of hourly productivity to working time is negative and decreasing with working time itself. If so, the decreasing returns on working time could be indicative of a fatigue effect that increases with working time. We find that the elasticity of productivity per hour to working time is negative and decreases with working time, but its coefficient is not strongly significant. This study offers empirical support for the hypothesis of a fatigue effect that increases with working time, but with some reservations.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert Cette & Samuel Chang & Maty Konte, 2011. "The decreasing returns on working time: an empirical analysis on panel country data," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(17), pages 1677-1682.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:18:y:2011:i:17:p:1677-1682
    DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2011.558473
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    1. Bourles, Renaud & Cette, Gilbert, 2007. "Trends in "structural" productivity levels in the major industrialized countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 151-156, April.
    2. Mark E Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2006. "XTOVERID: Stata module to calculate tests of overidentifying restrictions after xtreg, xtivreg, xtivreg2, xthtaylor," Statistical Software Components S456779, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 15 Jan 2016.
    3. repec:dgr:rugggd:200578 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Christopher F Baum & Steven Stillman, 1999. "DMEXOGXT: Stata module to test consistency of OLS vs XT-IV estimates," Statistical Software Components S401103, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 18 Jun 2003.
    5. Ian Dew-Becker & Robert J. Gordon, 2008. "The Role of Labor Market Changes in the Slowdown of European Productivity Growth," NBER Working Papers 13840, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Renaud Bourlès & Gilbert Cette, 2006. "A comparison of structural productivity levels in the major industrialised countries," OECD Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2005(2), pages 75-108.
    7. McGuckin, Robert & Ark, Bart van, 2005. "Productivity and participation: an international comparison," GGDC Research Memorandum 200578, Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen.
    8. Belorgey, N. & Lecat, R. & Maury, T-P., 2004. "Déterminants de la productivité par employé : une évaluation empirique en données de panel," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 121, pages 87-113.
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    Cited by:

    1. Renaud Bourlès & Gilbert Cette & Anastasia Cozarenco, 2012. "Employment and Productivity: Disentangling Employment Structure and Qualification Effects," International Productivity Monitor, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, vol. 23, pages 44-54, Spring.
    2. Emilia Herman & Maria-Ana Georgescu, 2012. "Is there a trade-off between employment and labour productivity in new EU member states?," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 15(45), pages 303-318, December.
    3. Gilbert Cette & Simon Drapala & Jimmy Lopez, 2023. "The Circular Relationship Between Productivity and Hours Worked: A Long-Term Analysis," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(4), pages 650-664, December.
    4. Maya Eden, 2021. "Time‐Inseparable Labor Productivity and the Workweek," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(3), pages 940-965, July.
    5. Dongyeol Lee & Hyunjoon Lim, 2014. "Nonlinearity in Nexus between Working Hours and Productivity," Working Papers 2014-24, Economic Research Institute, Bank of Korea.
    6. Eden,Maya, 2016. "The week," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7598, The World Bank.
    7. Pengfei Wang & Xiang Wei & Diancheng Hu & Fang Meng, 2022. "Does Leisure Contribute to the Improvement of Individual Job Performance? A Field Tracking Study Based on the Chinese Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-17, May.
    8. Dongyeol Lee & Hyunjoon Lim, 2017. "Multiple Thresholds In The Nexus Between Working Hours And Productivity," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(4), pages 716-734, October.
    9. repec:clr:wugarc:y:2016v:42i:04p:665 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Philipp Poyntner, 2016. "Beschäftigungseffekte von Arbeitszeitverkürzung," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 42(4), pages 665-684.
    11. Emilia Herman, 2011. "The Impact of Economic Growth Process on Employment in European Union Countries," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 14(42), pages 47-67, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    productivity; working time; decreasing returns;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • F01 - International Economics - - General - - - Global Outlook
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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