In empirical analyses, employment status has a substantial influence on individual wellbeing. People without work are consistently less happy, even after controlling for income. This result seems to contradict the standard theory assumption of labour disutility. In this paper, we analyze the impact of working time on happiness. The results show distinct positive utility effects caused by employment and working time. Happiness correlates positively with hours worked. However, there is an inverse U-shaped correlation – excessive hours reverse the relationship. Additionally, the results show the importance of exogenously given deviations of working time from the individually preferred labour supply. These discrepancies reduce well-being and counterbalance the positive effects of work.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management in its series FEMM Working Papers with number
09005.
Find related papers by JEL classification: J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
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.:
Di Tella, R. & MacCulloch, R.J.: Oswald, A.J., 1997.
"The Macroeconomics of Happiness,"
Papers
19, Centre for Economic Performance & Institute of Economics.
Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994.
"Unhappiness and Unemployment,"
Economic Journal,
Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-59, May.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)