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Working Time over the 20th Century

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Author Info
Alexander Ueberfeldt
Abstract

From 1870 to 2000, the workweek length of employed persons decreased by 41 per cent in industrialized countries. The employment rate, employment per working age person, displays large movements but no clear secular pattern. This motivated the question: What accounts for the large decrease in the workweek length and developments in the employment rate over the past 130 years? The answer is given in a dynamic general-equilibrium model with supervisory and production workers. Over time, both types of workers become more productive. In a calibrated version of the model, productivity gains of supervisors account for a large fraction of the decline in the workweek length in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The model, augmented to include taxes, government spending, and technological progress, captures the movement in the employment rates of the three countries.

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File URL: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/res/wp/2006/wp06-18.pdf
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Paper provided by Bank of Canada in its series Working Papers with number 06-18.

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Length: 70 pages
Date of creation: 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:bca:bocawp:06-18

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Related research
Keywords: Economic models; Labour markets; Productivity;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
E13 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Neoclassical
E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution
O11 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
  2. Harold L. Cole & Lee E. Ohanian, 2001. "The great U.K. depression: a puzzle and possible resolution," Staff Report 295, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
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  5. : Michele Boldrin & : Sergi Jiménez-Martín & : Franco Peracchi, . "Micro-Modelling Of Retirement Behavior In Spain," Working Papers 14-02 Classification-JEL , Instituto de Estudios Fiscales. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Joines, Douglas H, 1981. "Estimates of Effective Marginal Tax Rates on Factor Incomes," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(2), pages 191-226, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Victoria Osuna & Jose-Victor Rios-Rull, 2003. "Implementing the 35 Hour Workweek by Means of Overtime Taxation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 6(1), pages 179-206, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Gary S. Murphy Becker & Kevin M., 1992. "The Division of Labor, Coordination Costs, and Knowledge," University of Chicago - George G. Stigler Center for Study of Economy and State 79, Chicago - Center for Study of Economy and State.
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  9. Enrique G. Mendoza & Assaf Razin & Linda L. Tesar, 1995. "Effective Tax Rates in Macroeconomics: Cross-Country Estimates of Tax Rates on Factor Incomes and Consumption," NBER Working Papers 4864, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Larry E. Jones & Rodolfo E. Manuelli & Ellen R. McGrattan, 2003. "Why are married women working so much?," Staff Report 317, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  11. Andreas Hornstein & Edward C. Prescott, 1989. "The firm and the plant in general equilibrium theory," Staff Report 126, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Jennifer Hunt, 1998. "Hours Reductions as Work-Sharing," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 29(1998-1), pages 339-381. [Downloadable!]
  14. Agar Brugiavini & Franco Peracchi, 2001. "Micro Modeling Of Retirement Behavior In Italy," Departmental Working Papers 147, Tor Vergata University, CEIS. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Edward C. Prescott, 2003. "Non-Convexities in Quantitative General Equilibrium Studies of Business Cycles," Levine's Bibliography 506439000000000372, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Simona E. Cociuba & Alexander Ueberfeldt, 2008. "Driving Forces of the Canadian Economy: An Accounting Exercise," Working Papers 08-14, Bank of Canada. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Lonnie Golden, 2009. "A Brief History of Long Work Time and the Contemporary Sources of Overwork," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(2), pages 217-227, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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