IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/labeco/v47y2017icp96-106.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Working hours and productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Collewet, Marion
  • Sauermann, Jan

Abstract

This paper studies the link between working hours and productivity using daily information on working hours and performance of a sample of call centre agents. We exploit variation in the number of hours worked by the same employee across days and weeks due to central scheduling, enabling us to estimate the effect of working hours on productivity. We find that as the number of hours worked increases, the average handling time for a call increases, meaning that agents become less productive. This result suggests that fatigue can play an important role, even in jobs with mostly part-time workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Collewet, Marion & Sauermann, Jan, 2017. "Working hours and productivity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 96-106.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:47:y:2017:i:c:p:96-106
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2017.03.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537116302445
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.labeco.2017.03.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andries De Grip & Jan Sauermann, 2012. "The Effects of Training on Own and Co‐worker Productivity: Evidence from a Field Experiment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(560), pages 376-399, May.
    2. Garnero, Andrea & Kampelmann, Stephan & Rycx, François, 2013. "Part-time Work, Wages and Productivity: Evidence from Belgian Matched Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 7789, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Devicienti, Francesco & Grinza, Elena & Vannoni, Davide, 2015. "The Impact of Part-Time Work on Firm Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 9463, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Xiangmin Liu & Rosemary Batt, 2007. "The Economic Pay-Offs to Informal Training: Evidence from Routine Service Work," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(1), pages 75-89, October.
    5. Annemarie Künn-Nelen & Andries de Grip & Didier Fouarge, 2013. "Is Part-Time Employment Beneficial for Firm Productivity?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(5), pages 1172-1191, October.
    6. Boeri, Tito & Burda, Michael & Kramarz, Francis (ed.), 2008. "Working Hours and Job Sharing in the EU and USA: Are Europeans Lazy? Or Americans Crazy?," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199231027.
    7. Crocker, Thomas D & Horst, Robert L, Jr, 1981. "Hours of Work, Labor Productivity, and Environmental Conditions: A Case Study," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(3), pages 361-368, August.
    8. Bruno Crépon & Marie Leclair & Sébastien Roux, 2004. "RTT, productivité et emploi : nouvelles estimations sur données d'entreprises," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 376(1), pages 55-89.
    9. Anxo, Dominique & Bigsten, Arne, 1989. " Working Hours and Productivity in Swedish Manufacturing," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(3), pages 613-619.
    10. repec:ecj:econjl:v:122:y:2012:i::p:376-399 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Ronald DeBeaumont & Larry D. Singell Jr., 1999. "The Return to Hours and Workers in U.S. Manufacturing: Evidence on Aggregation Bias," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(2), pages 336-352, October.
    12. John Pencavel, 2016. "Recovery from Work and the Productivity of Working Hours," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(332), pages 545-563, October.
    13. De Grip, Andries & Sauermann, Jan & Sieben, Inge, 2016. "The role of peers in estimating tenure-performance profiles: Evidence from personnel data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 126(PA), pages 39-54.
    14. Pencavel, John, 2016. "Recovery from Work and the Productivity of Working Hours," IZA Discussion Papers 10103, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Alexander Bick & Bettina Brüggemann & Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln, 2016. "Hours Worked in Europe and the US: New Data, New Answers," CESifo Working Paper Series 6068, CESifo.
    16. Tatom, John A, 1980. "The "Problem" of Procyclical Real Wages and Productivity," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 385-394, April.
    17. Fleur G. GOMMANS & Nicole W.H. JANSEN & Dave STYNEN & IJmert KANT & Andries de GRIP, 2017. "The effects of under†skilling on need for recovery, losing employment and retirement intentions among older office workers: A prospective cohort study," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 156(3-4), pages 525-548, December.
    18. M. S. Feldstein, 1967. "Specification of the Labour Input in the Aggregate Production Function," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(4), pages 375-386.
    19. Leslie, Derek, 1984. "The Productivity of Hours in U.S. Manufacturing Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 66(3), pages 486-490, August.
    20. Tanguy Brachet & Guy David & Andrea M. Drechsler, 2012. "The Effect of Shift Structure on Performance," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 219-246, April.
    21. Ilmakunnas, Pekka, 1994. "Returns to Workers and Hours in Finnish Manufacturing," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 533-553.
    22. Thorsten Schank, 2005. "Are overtime plants more efficient than standard-time plants? A stochastic production frontier analysis using the IAB Establishment Panel," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 693-710, October.
    23. François Rycx & Andrea Garnero & Stephan Kampelmann, 2014. "part-time work, Wages and Productivity :Evidence from Matched panel data," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/245672, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    24. Breuer, Kathrin & Nieken, Petra & Sliwka, Dirk, 2010. "Social Ties and Subjective Performance Evaluations: An Empirical Investigation," IZA Discussion Papers 4913, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    25. John Pencavel, 2015. "The Productivity of Working Hours," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(589), pages 2052-2076, December.
    26. Andrea Garnero & Stephan Kampelmann & François Rycx, 2014. "Part-Time Work, Wages, and Productivity," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(3), pages 926-954, July.
    27. Hart, Robert A. & McGregor, Peter G., 1988. "The returns to labour services in West German manufacturing industry," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 947-963, April.
    28. Lee, Jungmin & Lee, Yong-Kwan, 2016. "Can working hour reduction save workers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 25-36.
    29. Yoram Barzel, 1973. "The Determination of Daily Hours and Wages," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 220-238.
    30. Roger Craine, 1973. "On the Service Flow from Labour," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 40(1), pages 39-46.
    31. Leslie, Derek G & Wise, John, 1980. "The Productivity of Hours in U.K. Manufacturing and Production Industries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(357), pages 74-84, March.
    32. Nyland,Chris, 1989. "Reduced Worktime and the Management of Production," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521345477.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniele Checchi & Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa & Lara Vivian, 2022. "Hours Inequality," Working Papers hal-03872764, HAL.
    2. Bastian Kordyaka & Mario Lackner & Hendrik Sonnabend, 2022. "Can too many cooks spoil the broth? Coordination costs, fatigue, and performance in high‐intensity tasks," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(3), pages 1065-1085, January.
    3. Françoise Delmez & Vincent Vandenberghe, 2017. "Working long hours: less productive but less costly? Firm-level evidence from Belgium," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2017022, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    4. Nicola Breugst & Holger Patzelt & Dean A. Shepherd, 2020. "When is Effort Contagious in New Venture Management Teams? Understanding the Contingencies of Social Motivation Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(8), pages 1556-1588, December.
    5. Zheng, Hongyun & Vatsa, Puneet & Ma, Wanglin & Zhou, Xiaoshou, 2023. "Working hours and job satisfaction in China: A threshold analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Adrian Chadi, 2017. "There Is No Place like Work: Evidence on Health and Labor Market Behavior from Changing Weather Conditions," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201709, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    7. Juliana Abagsonema Abane & Ronald Adamtey & Virceta Owusu Ayim, 2022. "Does organizational culture influence employee productivity at the local level? A test of Denison's culture model in Ghana’s local government sector," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Rachet-Jacquet, Laurie, 2022. "Do breaks from surgery improve the performance of orthopaedic surgeons?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. Dora Gicheva, 2020. "Occupational Social Value and Returns to Long Hours," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(347), pages 682-712, July.
    10. Sum Lo Simon Ming, 2023. "Desired work-leisure balance in a partial equilibrium job search model with multiple job holding," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-43, December.
    11. Cosaert, Sam & Lefebvre, Mathieu & Martin, Ludivine, 2022. "Are preferences for work reference dependent or time nonseparable? New experimental evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    12. Jos L. T. Blanc & Alex A. S. van Heezik & Bas Blank, 2023. "Productivity and efficiency of central government departments: a mixed-effect model applied to Dutch data in the period 2012-2019," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 47(3), pages 335-351.
    13. Taehyun Ahn, 2022. "Workweek reduction and women's job turnover: Evidence from labor legislation in South Korea," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(4), pages 1607-1625, October.
    14. Seng-Su Tsang & Zhih-Lin Liu & Thi Vinh Tran Nguyen, 2023. "Family–work conflict and work-from-home productivity: do work engagement and self-efficacy mediate?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    15. Eko Hariyadi Budiyanto & Raja Oloan Saut Gurning & Trika Pitana, 2021. "The Application of Business Impact Analysis Due to Electricity Disruption in a Container Terminal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, October.
    16. Rebecca Allen & Asma Benhenda & John Jerrim & Sam Sims, 2020. "New evidence on teachers' working hours in England. An empirical analysis of four datasets," CEPEO Working Paper Series 20-02, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Jan 2020.
    17. Violeta Cvetkoska & Milanka Dimovska, 2021. "What Will Be The Productivity Of Employees With Shorter Work Hours?," International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), Computer Science Journals (CSC Journals), vol. 12(4), pages 139-162, August.
    18. Checchi, Daniele & Garca-Peñalosa, Cecilia & Vivian, Lara, 2022. "Hours Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 15759, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Elacqua, Gregory & Marotta, Luana, 2020. "Is working one job better than many? Assessing the impact of multiple school jobs on teacher performance in Rio de Janeiro," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    20. Hart, Robert A., 2019. "Labor Productivity during the Great Depression in UK Manufacturing," IZA Discussion Papers 12379, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. MORIKAWA Masayuki, 2018. "Uncertainty over Working Schedules and Compensating Wage Differentials: From the viewpoint of labor management," Discussion papers 18015, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    22. Marta C.Lopes & Alessandro Tondini, 2022. "Firm-Level Effects of Reductions in Working Hours," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2022-05, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Collewet, Marion & Sauermann, Jan, 2017. "Working Hours and Productivity," Working Paper Series 3/2017, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    2. Dongyeol Lee & Hyunjoon Lim, 2017. "Multiple Thresholds In The Nexus Between Working Hours And Productivity," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(4), pages 716-734, October.
    3. Eden,Maya, 2016. "The week," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7598, The World Bank.
    4. Maya Eden, 2021. "Time‐Inseparable Labor Productivity and the Workweek," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(3), pages 940-965, July.
    5. Dongyeol Lee & Hyunjoon Lim, 2014. "Nonlinearity in Nexus between Working Hours and Productivity," Working Papers 2014-24, Economic Research Institute, Bank of Korea.
    6. Marta C.Lopes & Alessandro Tondini, 2022. "Firm-Level Effects of Reductions in Working Hours," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2022-05, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.
    7. Francesco Devicienti & Elena Grinza & Davide Vannoni, 2015. "The Impact of Part-Time Work on Firm Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from Italy," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 433, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    8. Florian Pelgrin & Arnaud Sylvain & Eric Heyer, 2003. "Durées d'utilisation des facteurs et fonction de production : une estimation par la méthode des moments généralisés en système," Working Papers hal-00972839, HAL.
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2041 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Florian Pelgrin & Arnaud Sylvain & Eric Heyer, 2004. "Capital operating time and working time in the production function : an evaluation on a panel firms over the period 1989-2001," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-00972838, HAL.
    11. Andrea Garnero, 2016. "Are part-time workers less productive and underpaid?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 249-249, April.
    12. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2042 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Simon Cueva & Éric Heyer, 1997. "Fonction de production et degrés d'utilisation du capital et du travail : une analyse économétrique," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 131(5), pages 93-111.
    14. Rupietta, Kira, 2015. "How does Part-time Work Affect Firm Performance and Innovation Activity?," Working papers 2015/05, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    15. Marie Boltz & Bart Cockx & Ana Maria Diaz & Luz Magdalena Salas, 2023. "How does working‐time flexibility affect workers' productivity in a routine job? Evidence from a field experiment," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 159-187, March.
    16. Boltz, Marie & Cockx, Bart & Diaz, Ana Maria & Salas, Luz Magdalena, 2020. "How does working-time flexibility affect workers’ productivity in a routine job?," ROA Research Memorandum 010, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    17. Marcello Estevao, "undated". "Measurement Error and Time Aggregation: A Closer Look at Estimates of Output-Labor Elasticities," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1996-02, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), revised 04 Dec 2019.
    18. Morikawa, Masayuki, 2021. "Employer-provided training and productivity: Evidence from a panel of Japanese Firms," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    19. Stephan Kampelmann & Benoit Mahy & François Rycx & Guillaume Vermeylen, 2016. "Who is your perfect match? Educational norms, educational mismatch and firm profitability," Working Papers CEB 16-050, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    20. Benoît Mahy & François Rycx & Guillaume Vermeylen & Mélanie Volral, 2018. "Productivity, wages and profits: Does firms’ position in the value chain matter?," Working Paper Research 358, National Bank of Belgium.
    21. Ronald DeBeaumont & Larry D. Singell, 1999. "The Return to Hours and Workers in U.S. Manufacturing: Evidence on Aggregation Bias," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(2), pages 336-352, October.
    22. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/2041 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Françoise Delmez & Vincent Vandenberghe, 2017. "Working long hours: less productive but less costly? Firm-level evidence from Belgium," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2017022, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Working hours; Productivity; Output; Labour demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:47:y:2017:i:c:p:96-106. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/labeco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.