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The shorter workweek and worker wellbeing: Evidence from Portugal and France

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  • Lepinteur, Anthony

Abstract

Using data from the European Community Household Panel, this paper evaluates the impact of the exogenous reductions in weekly working hours induced by reforms implemented in Portugal and France on worker wellbeing. Difference-in-differences estimation results suggest that reduced working hours generated significant and robust increases in job and leisure satisfaction of the workers affected in both countries (from 0.07 to 0.15 standard deviation increases), with the rise in the former mainly being explained by greater satisfaction with working hours and working conditions. Further results suggest that staff representative bodies are important for ensuring that working-time reductions lead to welfare gains.

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  • Lepinteur, Anthony, 2019. "The shorter workweek and worker wellbeing: Evidence from Portugal and France," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 204-220.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:58:y:2019:i:c:p:204-220
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2018.05.010
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    3. Kentaro Asai, 2022. "Working Hour Reform, Labor Demand and Productivity," PSE Working Papers halshs-03728157, HAL.
    4. Fernando Almeida & Nelson Amoedo, 2021. "Exploring the association between R&D expenditure and the job quality in the European Union," Papers 2101.03214, arXiv.org.
    5. Cygan-Rehm, Kamila & Wunder, Christoph, 2018. "Do working hours affect health? Evidence from statutory workweek regulations in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 162-171.
    6. Berniell, Inés & Bietenbeck, Jan, 2020. "The effect of working hours on health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    7. Kentaro Asai, 2022. "Working Hour Reform, Labor Demand and Productivity," Working Papers halshs-03728157, HAL.
    8. Stefan Ederer & Gerhard Streicher, 2023. "Makroökonomische Effekte einer Arbeitszeitanpassung in Österreich," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 49(3), pages 51-77.
    9. Thomas Hofmarcher, 2021. "The effect of paid vacation on health: evidence from Sweden," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(3), pages 929-967, July.
    10. Nicholas A. Ashford & Ralph P. Hall & Johan Arango-Quiroga & Kyriakos A. Metaxas & Amy L. Showalter, 2020. "Addressing Inequality: The First Step Beyond COVID-19 and Towards Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-43, July.
    11. Anthony Lepinteur, 2021. "The asymmetric experience of gains and losses in job security on health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 2217-2229, September.
    12. Hoffmann, Bridget & Rud, Juan Pablo, 2022. "Exposure or Income? The Unequal Effects of Pollution on Daily Labor Supply," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 11985, Inter-American Development Bank.
    13. Terhi Ravaska, 2023. "Do reduced working hours for older workers have health consequences and prolong work careers?," Working Papers 6, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
    14. Bridget Hoffmann & Juan Pablo Rud, 2022. "Exposure or Income? The Unequal Effects of Pollution on Daily Labor Supply," Working Papers 109, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    15. FitzRoy, Felix & Nolan, Michael A., 2020. "Towards Economic Democracy and Social Justice: Profit Sharing, Co-Determination, and Employee Ownership," IZA Discussion Papers 13238, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Lepinteur, Anthony & Nieto, Adrìan, 2021. "All about the money ? The gendered effect of education on industrial and occupational sorting," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 2109, CEPREMAP.
    17. Ravaska, Terhi, 2023. "Do reduced working hours for older workers have health consequences and prolong work careers?," Working Papers 153, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    18. Kamila Cygam-Rehm & Christoph Wunder, 2018. "Do Working Hours Affect Health? Evidence from Statutory Workweek Regulations in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 967, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    19. Gu, Xin & Li, Hao & Peng, Langchuan, 2022. "The anti-domestic violence law and women's welfare: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 1-16.
    20. Inés Berniell & Jan Bietenbeck, 2019. "The E↵ect of Working Hours on Health," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4210, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    21. Costa-Font, J.; & Saenz de Miera Juarez, B., 2021. "Working the Weight Out? Working Time Reduction and Overweight," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 21/18, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Working time; Job satisfaction; Difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

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