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Why do Europeans work part-time? A cross-country Panel Analysis

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Author Info
Hielke Buddelmeyer () (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research and IZA, Contact address: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, Alan Gilbert Building, 7th fl oor, 161 Barry Street, Carlton 3053 VIC, Australia.)
Gilles Mourre () (Corresponding author: European Commission, DG Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN) and Free University of Brussels (ULB, SBS, CEB), Contact address: BU-1 4/168, European Commission, Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium.)
Melanie Ward () (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)

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Abstract

This empirical paper seeks to determine the relative contribution of the business cycle and structural factors to the development of part-time employment in the EU-15 countries over the 1980s and 1990s, exploiting a panel of EU countries. In the short-run, the business cycle is found to exert a short-term negative effect on part-time employment developments, which is consistent with firms utilising part-time work to adjust their labour force to changing economic conditions. Institutions and other structural factors such as changes in legislation affecting part-time employment are found to be key drivers of the rate of part-time employment, significant in the longer run. Overall, although the role of individual factors differs in the 1980s and 1990s, a contribution analysis considering the most significant factors shows that the main structural and institutional variables generally well explain the development in the part-time employment rate in the EU countries, which is not the case in the United States. JEL Classification: J21, J22, J28, J68.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by European Central Bank in its series Working Paper Series with number 872.

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Length: 51 pages
Date of creation: Feb 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20080872

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Related research
Keywords: Part-time employment; working time organisation; the business cycle; labour supply; labour market policies; institutions; regulations.;

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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:
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    Other versions:
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    Other versions:
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    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. Bosch, Nicole & Deelen, Anja & Euwals, Rob, 2008. "Is Part-time Employment Here To Stay? Evidence from the Dutch Labour Force Survey 1992–2005," IZA Discussion Papers 3367, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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