IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp15329.html

Work Effort in the UK: Trends and Explanations

Author

Listed:
  • Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio

    (University of Zaragoza)

  • Sevilla, Almudena

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper links detailed 24-hour diary surveys in the United Kingdom (UK) over the last four decades to provide evidence on the increase in work effort in three specific dimensions: timing, nature, and composition. We rule out possible explanations behind these trends, finding that the decrease in the frequency of on-the-job leisure is more pronounced for workers in routine task-intensive occupations. Alternative supply- and demand-side explanations, such as changes in the relative preference for leisure, or the increase in offshoring, or competition for jobs, cannot explain our results. Our findings posit the amount and the frequency of on-the-job leisure as a measure of work effort, and the routine-biased technological change experienced during this period lies at the root of the increase in work effort in the UK.

Suggested Citation

  • Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Sevilla, Almudena, 2022. "Work Effort in the UK: Trends and Explanations," IZA Discussion Papers 15329, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15329
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp15329.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maarten Goos & Alan Manning, 2007. "Lousy and Lovely Jobs: The Rising Polarization of Work in Britain," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(1), pages 118-133, February.
    2. Jonathan Guryan & Erik Hurst & Melissa Kearney, 2008. "Parental Education and Parental Time with Children," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 23-46, Summer.
    3. Ohanian, Lee & Raffo, Andrea & Rogerson, Richard, 2008. "Long-term changes in labor supply and taxes: Evidence from OECD countries, 1956-2004," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(8), pages 1353-1362, November.
    4. David Hummels & Jakob R. Munch & Chong Xiang, 2018. "Offshoring and Labor Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(3), pages 981-1028, September.
    5. Garry F. Barrett & Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2019. "Labor Supply Elasticities: Overcoming Nonclassical Measurement Error Using More Accurate Hours Data," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(1), pages 255-265.
    6. Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio & Sevilla, Almudena, 2012. "Trends in time allocation: A cross-country analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1338-1359.
    7. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 1990. "Shirking or Productive Schmoozing: Wages and the Allocation of Time at Work," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 43(3), pages 121-1-133-, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Sevilla, Almudena, 2022. "Effort at Work and Worker Well-Being in the US," IZA Discussion Papers 15308, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Sevilla, Almudena, 2021. "Temporal Flexibility, Breaks at Work, and the Motherhood Wage Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 14578, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Fang Lei & McDaniel Cara, 2017. "Home hours in the United States and Europe," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 1-27, January.
    4. Steven J. Bosworth & José Ignacio Gimenez‐Nadal & Almudena Sevilla, 2025. "Parental time investments and instantaneous well‐being in the United States," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 72(1), February.
    5. J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina, 2016. "Commuting Time And Household Responsibilities: Evidence Using Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(2), pages 332-359, March.
    6. Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, Jose Alberto, 2015. "Health status and the allocation of time: Cross-country evidence from Europe," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 188-203.
    7. José Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina & Jorge Velilla, 2024. "Intermediate activities while commuting," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1185-1220, September.
    8. Bingley, Paul & Cappellari, Lorenzo & Tatsiramos, Konstantinos, 2022. "Parental assortative mating and the intergenerational transmission of human capital," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. J. Gimenez-Nadal & Jose Molina, 2013. "Parents’ education as a determinant of educational childcare time," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(2), pages 719-749, April.
    10. Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio & Sevilla, Almudena, 2016. "Intensive Mothering and Well-being: The Role of Education and Child Care Activity," MPRA Paper 74249, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Almudena Sevilla, 2014. "Low-Skilled Immigration and Parenting Investments of College-Educated Mothers in the United States: Evidence from Time-Use Data," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(3), pages 509-539.
    12. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal, J. & Molina, Jose Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2018. "The commuting behavior of workers in the United States: Differences between the employed and the self-employed," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 19-29.
    13. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2021. "Two-way commuting: Asymmetries from time use surveys," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    14. Cheng Chou & Ruoyao Shi, 2021. "What time use surveys can (and cannot) tell us about labor supply," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(7), pages 917-937, November.
    15. Jose Maria Fernandez-Crehuet & J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & Luisa Eugenia Reyes Recio, 2016. "The National Work–Life Balance Index©: The European Case," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 341-359, August.
    16. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2020. "The Gender Gap in Time Allocation in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 13461, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2022. "School commuting behaviors: A time-use exploration," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1194, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Gravina, Antonio Francesco & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2020. "Automation, globalisation and relative wages: An empirical analysis of winners and losers," MERIT Working Papers 2020-040, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. José Alberto Molina & Juan Carlos Campaña & Raquel Ortega, 2017. "Children’s interaction with the Internet: time dedicated to communications and games," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(6), pages 359-364, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • 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
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp15329. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.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.