IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-00812893.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Working time regulation in France from 1996 to 2012

Author

Listed:
  • Philippe Askenazy

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

France, which is often seen as an unusual country with a rigid 35-hour working week, has experienced massive changes in its regulation of working time in recent decades, including a progressive removal of 35-hour working week laws. These changes have affected and continue to affect workplace organisation, working conditions, job creation, productivity and wages. The 35-hour working week policy represents a reduction in working time as well as a complex package that restructured French labour law and that opened up a great deal of space for social bargaining. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of working time regulation and its political roots. It discusses the studies evaluating the 35-hour working week and examines some of the basic consequences of reversing this policy since 2002. It also highlights unexplored lines of research on this topic.

Suggested Citation

  • Philippe Askenazy, 2013. "Working time regulation in France from 1996 to 2012," Post-Print hal-00812893, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00812893
    DOI: 10.1093/cje/bes084
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kapteyn, Arie & Kalwij, Adriaan & Zaidi, Asghar, 2004. "The myth of worksharing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 293-313, June.
    2. Matthieu Bunel, 2004. "Les conjoints des salariés passés à 35 heures travaillent-ils davantage ?. Une analyse de l'offre de travail familiale sur données françaises," Economie & Prévision, La Documentation Française, vol. 0(3), pages 165-188.
    3. Matthieu Chemin & Etienne Wasmer, 2009. "Using Alsace-Moselle Local Laws to Build a Difference-in-Differences Estimation Strategy of the Employment Effects of the 35-Hour Workweek Regulation in France," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(4), pages 487-524, October.
    4. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen & Jackman, Richard, 2005. "Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199279173, December.
    5. Bosch, Gerhard & Lehndorff, Steffen, 2001. "Working-Time Reduction and Employment: Experiences in Europe and Economic Policy Recommendations," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 25(2), pages 209-243, March.
    6. Philippe Askenazy & Jean-Baptiste Berry & Sophie Prunier-Poulmaire, 2008. "Working Hard in Large French Retailers," Post-Print halshs-00754762, HAL.
    7. Jennifer Hunt, 1999. "Has Work-Sharing Worked in Germany?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 117-148.
    8. Tor Jacobson & Henry Ohlsson, 2000. "Working time, employment, and work sharing: Evidence from Sweden," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 169-187.
    9. Dominique Goux & Eric Maurin & Barbara Petrongolo, 2014. "Worktime Regulations and Spousal Labor Supply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(1), pages 252-276, January.
    10. Philippe Askenazy, 2004. "Shorter Work Time, Hours Flexibility, and Labor Intensification," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 603-614, Fall.
    11. Pierre Cahuc & Stéphane Carcillo, 2014. "The Detaxation of Overtime Hours: Lessons from the French Experiment," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(2), pages 361-400.
    12. Pencavel, John & Holmlund, Bertil, 1988. "The Determination of Wages, Employment, and Work Hours in an Economy with Centralised Wage-Setting: Sweden, 1950-83," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 98(393), pages 1105-1126, December.
    13. Eve Caroli & Jérôme Gautié, 2008. "Low wage work in France," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-00266332, HAL.
    14. repec:bla:scandj:v:90:y:1988:i:1:p:45-62 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Mr. Marcello M. Estevão & Ms. Filipa G Sa, 2006. "Are the French Happy with the 35-Hour Workweek?," IMF Working Papers 2006/251, International Monetary Fund.
    16. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10045 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Richard Duhautois & Emmanuelle Walkowiak & Oana Calavrezo, 2009. "The Substitution of Worksharing and Short-Time Compensation in France: A Difference-in-differences Approach," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(2), pages 820-833.
    18. Bruno Crepon & Francis Kramarz, 2002. "Employed 40 Hours or Not Employed 39: Lessons from the 1982 Mandatory Reduction of the Workweek," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(6), pages 1355-1389, December.
    19. Matthieu Bunel & Fabrice Gilles & Yannick L’Horty, 2009. "Les effets des allégements de cotisations sociales sur l’emploi et les salaires : une évaluation de la réforme de 2003," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 429(1), pages 77-105.
    20. Matthieu Bunel, 2004. "Aides incitatives et déterminants des embauches des établissements passés aux 35 heures," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 376(1), pages 91-115.
    21. Askenazy, Philippe, 2002. "Dynamique de l'innovation organisationnelle lors de la réduction du temps de travail," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Couverture Orange) 0210, CEPREMAP.
    22. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/10198 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Alain Gubian & Stéphane Jugnot & Frédéric Lerais & Vladimir Passeron, 2004. "Les effets de la RTT sur l'emploi : des estimations ex ante aux évaluations ex post," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 376(1), pages 25-54.
    24. Cédric Afsa & Pierre Biscourp, 2004. "L'évolution des rythmes de travail entre 1995 et 2001 : quel impact des 35 heures ?," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 376(1), pages 173-198.
    25. Calmfors, Lars, 1985. "Work sharing, employment and wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 293-309.
    26. Bruno Crépon & Francis Kramarz, 1999. "Réduction du temps de travail et emploi : quelques leçons du passage aux 39 heures de 1982," Revue Française d'Économie, Programme National Persée, vol. 14(1), pages 3-26.
    27. Friesen, Jane, 2001. "Overtime pay regulation and weekly hours of work in Canada," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(6), pages 691-720, December.
    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. Marie-Louise Leroux & Gregory Ponthiere, 2018. "Working time regulation, unequal lifetimes and fairness," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 51(3), pages 437-464, October.
    2. Lukács, Bence & Antal, Miklós, 2023. "The practical feasibility of working time reduction: Do we have sufficient data?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    3. Dora Tuda, 2020. "Desired hours worked over the business cycle: stylised facts for European countries," Trinity Economics Papers tep1320, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2020.
    4. James Harrigan & Ariell Reshef & Farid Toubal, 2016. "The March of the Techies: Technology, Trade, and Job Polarization in France, 1994-2007," Working Papers 2016-15, CEPII research center.
    5. Cieplinski, André & D'Alessandro, Simone & Guarnieri, Pietro, 2021. "Environmental impacts of productivity-led working time reduction," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    6. Daniele Checchi & Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Lara Vivian, 2016. "Are changes in the dispersion of hours worked a cause of increased earnings inequality?," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-34, December.
    7. Zwickl, Klara & Disslbacher, Franziska & Stagl, Sigrid, 2016. "Work-sharing for a sustainable economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 246-253.
    8. Simone d’alessandro & Tiziano Distefano & Guilherme Spinato Morlin & Davide Villani, 2023. "Policy Responses to Labour-Saving Technologies: Basic Income, Job Guarantee, and Working Time Reduction," JRC Working Papers on Social Classes in the Digital Age 2023-09, Joint Research Centre.
    9. Kentaro Asai, 2022. "Working Hour Reform, Labor Demand and Productivity," PSE Working Papers halshs-03728157, HAL.
    10. Jean‐François Fagnart & Marc Germain & Bruno Van der Linden, 2023. "Working time reduction and employment in a finite world," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 125(1), pages 170-207, January.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Berniell, Inés & Bietenbeck, Jan, 2020. "The effect of working hours on health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    14. Hana Urbancová, 2019. "Benefits of Age Management in Agribusiness," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 67(2), pages 597-607.
    15. Cieplinski, André & D'Alessandro, Simone & Dwarkasing, Chandni & Guarnieri, Pietro, 2023. "Narrowing women’s time and income gaps: An assessment of the synergies between working time reduction and universal income schemes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    16. Kentaro Asai, 2022. "Working Hour Reform, Labor Demand and Productivity," Working Papers halshs-03728157, HAL.
    17. Dimitris Pavlopoulos & Katja Chkalova, 2022. "Short-time work: A bridge to employment security or a springboard to unemployment?," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(1), pages 168-197, February.
    18. Glória Rebelo & Catarina Delaunay & Alexandre Martins & Maria Fernanda Diamantino & António R. Almeida, 2024. "Women’s Perceptions of Discrimination at Work: Gender Stereotypes and Overtime—An Exploratory Study in Portugal," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-14, August.
    19. Hana Urbancová & Miroslava Navrátilová, 2016. "The Organization Of Working Hours Of Selected Employee Categories In Czech Businesses," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 61(211), pages 99-116, October -.
    20. Klara Zwickl & Franziska Disslbacher & Sigrid Stagl, 2016. "Work-sharing for a Sustainable Economy. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 111," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 58684.
    21. 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.
    22. Bei Liu & Hong Chen & Xinru Huang, 2018. "Map Changes and Theme Evolution in Work Hours: A Co-Word Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-15, May.

    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. Marie-Louise Leroux & Gregory Ponthiere, 2018. "Working time regulation, unequal lifetimes and fairness," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 51(3), pages 437-464, October.
    2. Kapteyn, Arie & Kalwij, Adriaan & Zaidi, Asghar, 2004. "The myth of worksharing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 293-313, June.
    3. Kawaguchi, Daiji & Naito, Hisahiro & Yokoyama, Izumi, 2017. "Assessing the effects of reducing standard hours: Regression discontinuity evidence from Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 59-76.
    4. Ronald L. Oaxaca & Galiya Sagyndykova, 2020. "The effect of overtime regulations on employment," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-89, December.
    5. Skans, Oskar Nordstrom, 2004. "The impact of working-time reductions on actual hours and wages: evidence from Swedish register-data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(5), pages 647-665, October.
    6. Jean‐François Fagnart & Marc Germain & Bruno Van der Linden, 2023. "Working time reduction and employment in a finite world," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 125(1), pages 170-207, January.
    7. de Regt, E.R., 2004. "Hourly wages and working time in the Dutch market sector 1962-1995," Research Memorandum 028, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    8. Zwickl, Klara & Disslbacher, Franziska & Stagl, Sigrid, 2016. "Work-sharing for a sustainable economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 246-253.
    9. repec:clr:wugarc:y:2016v:42i:04p:665 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Virginia Tsoukatou, 2019. "Examination of the Correlation between Working Time Reduction and Employment," Papers 1912.01605, arXiv.org.
    11. Erik de Regt, 2009. "Hourly wages and working time in the Dutch market sector 1962-1995," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(6), pages 765-778.
    12. Sánchez, Rafael, 2013. "Do reductions of standard hours affect employment transitions?: Evidence from Chile," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 24-37.
    13. Philipp Poyntner, 2016. "Beschäftigungseffekte von Arbeitszeitverkürzung," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 42(4), pages 665-684.
    14. Altavilla, Carlo & Garofalo, Antonio & Vinci, Concetto Paolo, 2005. "Evaluating the effects of working hours on employment and wages," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 647-664, September.
    15. Fang, Tony & Lin, Carl & Tang, Xueli, 2024. "Where did the time go? The effects of China's two-day weekend policy on labor supply, household work, and wages," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    16. 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.
    17. Stéphane Carcillo & Alexander Hijzen & Stefan Thewissen, 2024. "The limitations of overtime limits to reduce long working hours: Evidence from the 2018 to 2021 working time reform in Korea," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 98-126, March.
    18. Fang, Tony & Lin, Carl & Tang, Xueli, 2018. "How Has the Two-Day Weekend Policy Affected Labour Supply and Household Work in China?," IZA Discussion Papers 11698, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Gebhard Kirchgässner, 2009. "Critical Analysis of Some Well-Intended Proposals to Fight Unemployment," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2009 2009-17, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    20. Nordström Skans, Oskar, 2001. "The effects of working time reductions on wages, actual hours and equilibrium unemployment," Working Paper Series 2001:8, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    21. Peter Frase & Janet Gornick, 2009. "The Time Divide in Cross-National Perspective: The Work Week, Gender and Education in 17 Countries," LIS Working papers 526, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

    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:hal:journl:hal-00812893. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.