Überarbeitung der IAB-Arbeitszeitrechnung im Rahmen der VGR-Sommerrechnung 2022

"This research report describes the occasion, the methodology and the results of the revision of the IAB Working Time Measurement Concept (Arbeitszeitrechnung, AZR) within the framework of the National Accounts. The National Accounts are revised on a regular basis each summer on the basis of newly available statistical information. The AZR, which is integrated into the National Accounts of the Federal Statistical Office, regularly provides long, comparable time series on industry-specific working time and hours worked in Germany. Since the concepts and definitions that are binding for the National Accounts also apply for the AZR, the time series of all working time components of the AZR can only be revised and updated on specified dates. Ongoing revisions for previous years are thus only possible as part of the annual main calculation in August of each year ("summer calculation"). These revisions usually cover the last four reporting years; this year, therefore, the annual and quarterly results for the years 2018 to 2021. One focus of the revisions of the AZR in the context of the summer calculation 2022 concerns the integration of data bases that, due to their later availability, can only be integrated into the modelling of the working time components with a longer delay. Due to the redesign and also pandemic-related restrictions, the results of the Microcensus were not available on time and not in the usual differentiation. Even the results of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) can regularly only be integrated with a longer time lag. Furthermore, a new data source – the IAB Job Vacancy Survey – was integrated into the structural time series models for the calculation of balances on working time accounts. We also outline which special effects occurred due to the Corona pandemic and how these were incorporated into the calculations of the AZR. For example, border closures, daycare and school closures, and quarantine orders led to work absences on the employee side that occurred for the first time in this form. In addition, due to the widespread use of the short-time work scheme, reductions in employees' leave entitlements are also possible. This research report explains in detail the estimation of these special one-off effects, which are included under the working time component "holidays and other time off". The large uncertainties due to the Corona pandemic, but also the long lag in the data availability of survey results, led to stronger revisions of the time series of the AZR on hours worked than usual. For the revision period 2018 to 2021, the rates of change in the individual observation years deviate between -0.4 and +0.3 percentage points compared to the previous results for the annual working hours of employed persons. The research report is structured as follows: After a brief explanation of the basic concept of the AZR, the report explains which changes were made to the affected working time components within the scope of the revision and what effect these had on the respective time series of the AZR. This is followed by a section with the macroeconomic results on hours worked and the volume of work, which compares them with the results before the revision." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))