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Shirking or Productive Schmoozing: Wages and the Allocation of Time at Work

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Daniel S. Hamermesh

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Abstract

Major strands of recent macroeconomic theory hinge on the relation of workers' efforts to their wages, but there has been no direct general evidence on this relation. This study uses data from household surveys for 1975 and 1981 that include detailed time diaries to examine how changes in the use of time on the job affect wages. Additional time spent by the average worker relaxing at work has no impact on earnings (and is presumably unproductive). Additional on-the- job leisure does raise earnings of workers whose break time is very short. Only among union workers, for whom additional leisure time (in unscheduled breaks only) appears productive, does this pattern differ. The results suggest that further growth in on-the-job leisure will reduce productivity (output per hour paid-for), that monitoring workers can yield returns to the firm, but that entirely eliminating breaks is counterproductive.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 2800.

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Date of creation: Apr 1990
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2800

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  1. Alan B. Krueger & David Schkade, 2007. "Sorting in the Labor Market: Do Gregarious Workers Flock to Interactive Jobs?," NBER Working Papers 13032, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. David L. Dickinson, 2006. "Work effort effects in the classical labor supply model," Working Papers 06-13, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University. [Downloadable!]
  3. Robert Tuttle & Michael Garr, 2009. "Self-Employment, Work–Family Fit and Mental Health Among Female Workers," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 282-292, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. John S. Earle & Zuzana Sakova, 1999. "Entrepreneurship from Scratch: Lessons on the Entry Decision into Self-Employment from Transition Economies," IZA Discussion Papers 79, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Sang-Hyop Lee, 2005. "Generalists and Specialists, Ability and Earnings," Working Papers 200502, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Katharine G. Abraham & James R. Spletzer & Jay C. Stewart, 1999. "Why Do Different Wage Series Tell Different Stories?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 34-39, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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