IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eis/articl/113philp.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

European Work Time Regulation, Surplus-Value and Underemployment among Full-Time Employees: A Cross-Sectional Analysis using the 2009 EU LFS

Author

Listed:
  • Bruce Philp
  • Dan Wheatley

Abstract

This paper investigates surplus-value rates and work time patterns among fulltime workers in five European Union economies - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK - using macroeconomic EUROSTAT data and individual-level data extracted from the 2009 Labour Force Survey. This is considered in terms of the constituent drivers of the rate of surplus-value, in particular working hours. France and the UK are of most interest in terms of work time regulation because of the exceptional nature of their relationship to the European Working Time Directive, 1993 (WTD). The UK is characterised by absolute surplus-value production, whereas we can partially attribute low levels of surplus-value in France to fewer working hours. While this signals some success for workers, evidence indicates the WTD may also have had repercussions for income levels and the family. In the French case reductions in hours may have also depressed real wages (somewhat counteracting the effect of reduced hours in producing low levels of surplus-value), causing underemployment for some, particularly in the 'technicians and associate professionals' and 'all other occupations' categories.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruce Philp & Dan Wheatley, 2013. "European Work Time Regulation, Surplus-Value and Underemployment among Full-Time Employees: A Cross-Sectional Analysis using the 2009 EU LFS," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 18(1), pages 57-74, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:eis:articl:113philp
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.economicissues.org.uk/Files/2013/113Philp.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anders Hayden, 2006. "France’s 35-Hour Week: Attack on Business? Win-Win Reform? Or Betrayal of Disadvantaged Workers?," Politics & Society, , vol. 34(4), pages 503-542, December.
    2. Mohun, Simon, 1994. "A Re(in)statement of the Labour Theory of Value," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 18(4), pages 391-412, August.
    3. Jon C. Messenger, 2011. "Working time trends and developments in Europe 1," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 35(2), pages 295-316.
    4. Inmaculada García-Mainar & José Alberto Molina & Víctor M. Montuenga, 2011. "Gender Differences in Childcare: Time Allocation in Five European Countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 119-150, January.
    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. Zeynep Basak & Caner Ozdemir, 2023. "Underutilisation of Labour: Underemployment and Skills-Mismatch in Turkey," World Journal of Applied Economics, WERI-World Economic Research Institute, vol. 9(2), pages 125-148, December.

    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. Lonnie Golden & Stuart Glosser, 2013. "Work sharing as a potential policy tool for creating more and better employment: A review of the evidence," Chapters, in: Jon C. Messenger & Naj Ghosheh (ed.), Work Sharing during the Great Recession, chapter 7, pages 203-258, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Alan Freeman, 1998. "A General Refutation of Okishio’s Theorem and a Proof of the Falling Rate of Profit," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Riccardo Bellofiore (ed.), Marxian Economics: A Reappraisal, chapter 10, pages 139-162, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. R.Ramya, 2019. "Care Work and Time Use: A Focus on Child Care, Personal Care and Elderly Care Time," Shanlax International Journal of Economics, Shanlax Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 34-41, March.
    4. Ísis F. Lira & Laura de Carvalho Schiavon & Ricardo da Silva Freguglia, 2024. "Electronic monitoring of working time and labour market outcomes: Evidence from Brazil," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 205-221, May.
    5. José Molina, 2015. "Caring within the Family: Reconciling Work and Family Life," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 1-4, March.
    6. Mark L. Bryan & Almudena Sevilla, 2017. "Flexible working in the UK and its impact on couples’ time coordination," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1415-1437, December.
    7. Lambert, Thomas, 2021. "The Baran Ratio, Investment, and British Economic Growth and Investment," MPRA Paper 109546, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Lasierra, Jose Manuel, 2018. "Work and family as factors determining Individual Subjective Well-Being in Spain," MPRA Paper 89404, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Jonathan F. Cogliano, 2017. "Surplus Value Production and Realization in Marxian Theory - Applications to the U.S., 1987-2015," Working Paper Series 2017-01, Dickinson College, Department of Economics.
    10. Nur Nahar Yasmin, 2024. "Four-day workweek in corporate sector: post-pandemic work arrangement for Bangladesh," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(7), pages 1-26, July.
    11. Raul Caruso & Filomena Asgresta & Emiliano Sironi, 2015. "Profilo economico delle donne nel disagio post-partum. Un?indagine empirica presso l?Ospedale Niguarda di Milano," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 159-180.
    12. Baktash, Mehrzad B. & Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2024. "Variable Pay and Work Hours: Does Performance Pay Reduce the Gender Time Gap?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1450, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. Thomas E. Lambert & Edward Kwon, 2015. "Monopoly capital and capitalist inefficiency," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 533-552, July.
    14. Calvo, Elena, 2021. "Determinantes del Emprendimiento Femenino en Europa [Determinants of Female Entrepreneurship in Europe]," MPRA Paper 111121, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Ospina-Cartagena, Vanessa & García-Suaza, Andrés, 2020. "Brechas de Género en el trabajo Doméstico y de Cuidado No Remunerado en Colombia," Working papers 52, Red Investigadores de Economía.
    16. Begoña Álvarez & Daniel Miles-Touya, 2019. "Gender imbalance in housework allocation: a question of time?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1257-1287, December.
    17. Roberto Veneziani & Luca Zamparelli & Simon Mohun & Roberto Veneziani, 2017. "Value, Price, And Exploitation: The Logic Of The Transformation Problem," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1387-1420, December.
    18. Li, Mengyu & Keyβer, Lorenz & Kikstra, Jarmo S. & Hickel, Jason & Brockway, Paul E. & Dai, Nicolas & Malik, Arunima & Lenzen, Manfred, 2023. "Integrated assessment modelling of degrowth scenarios for Australia," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123739, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Baktash, Mehrzad B. & Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2023. "Does Performance Pay Increase the Risk of Marital Instability?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1305, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    20. García, Lucia, 2018. "El mercado laboral en España desde la oferta: evolución reciente nacional y regional [Supply labour market in Spain: recent evolution at a national and regional level]," MPRA Paper 85262, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    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:eis:articl:113philp. 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: Dan Wheatley (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bsntuuk.html .

    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.