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Keeping in Touch - A Benefit of Public Holidays

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Author Info
Joachim Merz () (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Research Institute on Professions, University of Lüneburg)
Lars Osberg () (Department of Economics, Dalhousie University)

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Abstract

This paper argues that public holidays facilitate the co-ordination of leisure time but do not constrain the annual amount of leisure. Public holidays therefore have benefits both in the utility of leisure on holidays and (by enabling people to maintain social contacts more easily) in increasing the utility of leisure on normal weekdays and weekends. The paper uses the variation (13 to 17) in public holidays across German Länder and the German Time Use Survey of 2001-02 to show that public holidays have beneficial impacts on social life on normal weekdays and weekends. Since these benefits are additional to the other benefits of holidays, it suggests that there is a case to be made for more public holidays.

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File URL: http://www.ecineq.org/milano/WP/ECINEQ2006-37.pdf
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File Function: Draft of April 13, 2006
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality in its series Working Papers with number 37.

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Length: 39 pages
Date of creation: 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2006-37

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Related research
Keywords: Public holidays; social contacts; social leisure time; time allocation; time use diaries; German Time Budget Survey 2001/02;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare
Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Social Norms and Social Capital; Social Networks Economic Anthropology
H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General

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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.:
  1. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2002. "Timing, togetherness and time windfalls," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 601-623. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Hallberg, Daniel, 2003. "Synchronous leisure, jointness and household labor supply," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 185-203, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Corneo, Giacomo, 2005. "Work and television," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 99-113, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Jacobsen, Joyce P. & Kooreman, Peter, 2005. "Timing constraints and the allocation of time: The effects of changing shopping hours regulations in The Netherlands," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 9-27, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Skuterud, Mikal, 2005. "The impact of Sunday shopping on employment and hours of work in the retail industry: Evidence from Canada," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(8), pages 1953-1978, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Weiss, Yoram, 1996. "Synchronization of Work Schedules," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 37(1), pages 157-79, February.
  7. Knack, Stephen & Keefer, Philip, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-88, November.
  8. Lars Osberg, 2003. "Understanding Growth and Inequality Trends: The Role of Labour Supply in the US and Germany," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 29(s1), pages 163-184, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Joachim Merz & Tim Rathjen, 2009. "Time and Income Poverty: An Interdependent Multidimensional Poverty Approach with German Time Use Diary Data," SOEPpapers 215, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
  2. Merz, Joachim & Rathjen, Tim, 2009. "Time and Income Poverty: An Interdependent Multidimensional Poverty Approach with German Time Use Diary Data," IZA Discussion Papers 4337, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2009. "The 60s Turnaround as a Test on the Causal Relationship between Sociability and Happiness," SOEPpapers 209, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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