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Productivity in Manufacturing and the Length of the Working Day: Evidence from the 1880 Census of Manufactures

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Author Info
Jeremy Atack () (Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University)
Fred Bateman
Robert A. Margo () (Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University)

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Abstract

We use data from the manuscript census of manufacturing to estimate the effects of the length of the working day on output and wages. We find that the elasticity of output with respect to daily hours was positive but less than one - that is, there were diminishing returns to increases in hours. Holding constant annual days of work, the average annual wage was positively related to daily hours but, again, the elasticity was less than one. At the modal value of daily hours - ten hours per day - it appears that, from the standpoint of employers, the marginal benefits of a shorter working day - a lower wage bill - were approximately offset by the marginal cost - lower output.

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File URL: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/econ/wparchive/workpaper/vu00-w45.pdf
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File Function: First version, 2000
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Paper provided by Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University in its series Working Papers with number 0045.

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Date of creation: Nov 2000
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Handle: RePEc:van:wpaper:0045

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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. Atack, Jeremy, 1977. "Returns to scale in antebellum United States manufacturing," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 337-359, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Lucas, Robert E, Jr, 1970. "Capacity, Overtime, and Empirical Production Functions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(2), pages 23-27, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Jeremy Atack & Fred Bateman, 1991. "Whom Did Protective Legislation Protect? Evidence From 1880," NBER Historical Working Papers 0033, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Atack, Jeremy & Bateman, Fred, 1992. "How Long Was the Workday in 1880?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(01), pages 129-160, March. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Goldin, Claudia, 1988. "Maximum Hours Legislation and Female Employment: A Reassessment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(1), pages 189-205, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Barzel, Yoram, 1973. "The Determination of Daily Hours and Wages," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 87(2), pages 220-38, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Moehling, Carolyn M., 1999. "State Child Labor Laws and the Decline of Child Labor," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 72-106, 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. Michael Huberman, 2002. "Working Hours of the World Unite? New International Evidence on Worktime, 1870-1900," CIRANO Working Papers 2002s-77, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
  2. Sukkoo Kim, 2005. "Industrialization and Urbanization: Did the Steam Engine Contribute to the Growth of Cities in the United States?," NBER Working Papers 11206, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Susan Averett & Howard Bodenhorn & Justas Staisiunas, 2003. "Unemployment Risk and Compensating Differential in Late-Nineteenth Century New Jersey Manufacturing," NBER Working Papers 9977, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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