IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp48.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Overtime Work and Overtime Compensation in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Bauer, Thomas K.

    (RWI)

  • Zimmermann, Klaus F.

    (University of Bonn)

Abstract

Sharing the available stock of work more fairly is a popular concern in the public policy debate. One policy proposal is to reduce overtime work in order to allow the employment of more people. This paper suggests that such a concept faces major problems. Using Germany as a case study, it is shown that the group of workers with the highest risks of becoming unemployed, namely the unskilled, also exhibit low levels of overtime work. Those who work overtime, namely the skilled, face excess demand on the labour market. Since skilled and unskilled workers are largely complements in production, a general reduction in overtime will lead to less production and hence also to a decline in the level of unskilled employment. The paper provides empirical support for this line of argument. It is also shown that paid overtime work has lost relative importance over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Bauer, Thomas K. & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 1999. "Overtime Work and Overtime Compensation in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 48, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp48
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp48.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David N. F. Bell & Robert A. Hart, 1999. "Unpaid Work," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 66(262), pages 271-290, May.
    2. repec:bla:econom:v:60:y:1993:i:238:p:183-201 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. repec:bla:kyklos:v:41:y:1988:i:4:p:551-72 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:bla:scandj:v:90:y:1988:i:1:p:45-62 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Robert A Hart & Robin J Ruffell, 1992. "The Cost of Overtime Hours in British Production Industries," Working Papers Series 92/1, University of Stirling, Division of Economics.
    6. Veall, Michael R & Zimmermann, Klaus F, 1996. "Pseudo-R-[superscript 2] Measures for Some Common Limited Dependent Variable Models," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(3), pages 241-259, September.
    7. Bell, D. & RA Hart, 1999. "Overtime Working in an Unregulated Labour Market," Working Papers Series 9904, University of Stirling, Division of Economics.
    8. Trejo, Stephen J, 1993. "Overtime Pay, Overtime Hours, and Labor Unions," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(2), pages 253-278, 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. Zapf, Ines & Weber, Enzo, 2017. "The role of employer, job and employee characteristics for flexible working time : An empirical analysis of overtime work and flexible working hours' arrangements," IAB-Discussion Paper 201704, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    2. Bell, D. & RA Hart, 1999. "Overtime Working in an Unregulated Labour Market," Working Papers Series 9904, University of Stirling, Division of Economics.
    3. Giannelli, Gianna Claudia & Braschi, Cristina, 2002. "Reducing Hours of Work: Does Overtime Act as a Brake Upon Employment Growth? An Analysis by Gender for the Case of Italy," IZA Discussion Papers 557, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Alexis Ioannides & Eleni Oxouzi & Stavros Mavroudeas, 2014. "All work and no … pay? Unpaid overtime in Greece: determining factors and theoretical explanations," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 39-55, January.
    5. Hart Robert A. & Ma Yue, 2008. "Wages, Hours and Human Capital Over the Life Cycle," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 228(5-6), pages 446-464, October.
    6. Simmons, R. & Schank, Thorsten & Andrews, Martyn J., 2004. "Does Worksharing Work? Some Empirical Evidence from the IAB Panel," Discussion Papers 25, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    7. Hart, Robert A. & Malley, James R., 2000. "Marginal cost and price over the business cycle: comparative evidence from Japan and the United States," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 547-569, September.
    8. Ines Zapf, 2015. "Individual and Workplace-Specific Determinants of Paid and Unpaid Overtime Work in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 771, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    9. Hart, Robert A. & Malley, James R. & Ruffell, Robin J., 1996. "What shapes are overtime premium schedules? Some evidence from Japan, the UK, and the US," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 97-102, October.
    10. Kalwig, A.S. & Gregory, M., 2000. "Overtime Hours in Great Britain Over the Period 1975-1999: A panel Data Analysis," Economics Series Working Papers 9927, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    11. Markus Pannenberg & Gert G. Wagner, 2001. "Umfang und Kompensation von Überstunden: eine vergleichende Analyse für Westdeutschland und Großbritannien," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 234, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    12. Zapf, Ines, 2015. "Individual and workplace-specific determinants of paid and unpaid overtime work in Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 201515, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    13. repec:aia:aiaswp:wp22 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Pannenberg, Markus & Wagner, Gert G., 2001. "Why Do Overtime Work, Overtime Compensation and the Distribution of Economic Well-Being Evidence for the West Germany and Great Britain," IZA Discussion Papers 318, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Lovejoy, Kristin, 2012. "Mobility Fulfillment Among Low-car Households: Implications for Reducing Auto Dependence in the United States," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt4v44b5qn, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    16. Chen Yu-Fu & Funke Michael, 2004. "Working Time and Employment Under Uncertainty," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(3), pages 1-23, September.
    17. Männasoo, Kadri, 2022. "Working hours and gender wage differentials: Evidence from the American Working Conditions Survey," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    18. Anger, Silke, 2005. "Unpaid Overtime in Germany: Differences between East and West," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 125(1), pages 17-27.
    19. repec:ilr:articl:v:65:y:2012:i:2:p:263-285 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Yu-Fu Chen & Michael Funke, 2003. "Exchange Rate Uncertainty and Labour Market Flexibility under Fixed and Flexible Exchange Rates," Dundee Discussion Papers in Economics 149, Economic Studies, University of Dundee.
    21. Arcidiacono, Peter & Kinsler, Josh & Ransom, Tyler, 2022. "Asian American Discrimination in Harvard Admissions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    22. Jim Malley & Robert A Hart & Ulrich Woitek, 2003. "Manufacturing Earnings and Cycles: New Evidence," Working Papers 2002_16, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    overtime compensation; Hours of work; overtime working;
    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
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods

    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:dp48. 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.