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Long Workweeks and Strange Hours

Author

Listed:
  • Hamermesh, Daniel S.

    () (Barnard College)

  • Stancanelli, Elena G. F.

    () (Paris School of Economics)

Abstract

American workweeks are long compared to other rich countries'. Much less well-known is that Americans are more likely to work at night and on weekends. We examine the relationship between these two phenomena using the American Time Use Survey and time-diary data from 5 other countries. Adjusting for demographic differences, Americans' incidence of night and weekend work would drop by about 10 percent if European workweeks prevailed. Even if no Americans worked long hours, the incidence of unusual work times in the U.S. would far exceed those in continental Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Stancanelli, Elena G. F., 2014. "Long Workweeks and Strange Hours," IZA Discussion Papers 8423, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8423
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Boeri, Tito & Burda, Michael & Kramarz, Francis (ed.), 2008. "Working Hours and Job Sharing in the EU and USA: Are Europeans Lazy? Or Americans Crazy?," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199231027.
    2. Jenkins, Stephen P. & Osberg, Lars, 2003. "Nobody to play with? The implications of leisure coordination," ISER Working Paper Series 2003-19, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    3. Kostiuk, Peter F, 1990. "Compensating Differentials for Shift Work," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 1054-1075, October.
    4. Peter Kuhn & Fernando Lozano, 2008. "The Expanding Workweek? Understanding Trends in Long Work Hours among U.S. Men, 1979-2006," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 311-343, April.
    5. Bell, Linda A. & Freeman, Richard B., 2001. "The incentive for working hard: explaining hours worked differences in the US and Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 181-202, May.
    6. Gerald S. Oettinger, 2011. "The Incidence and Wage Consequences of Home-Based Work in the United States, 1980–2000," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(2), pages 237-260.
    7. Daniel S. Hamermesh & Harley Frazis & Jay Stewart, 2005. "Data Watch: The American Time Use Survey," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 221-232, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Long Workweeks and Strange Hours
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2014-12-10 19:22:52
    2. Long Workweeks and Strange Hours
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2014-12-19 16:57:32

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Serena Yu & David Peetz, 2019. "Non‐Standard Time Wage Premiums and Employment Effects: Evidence from an Australian Natural Experiment," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(1), pages 33-61, March.
    2. Alexandre Mas & Amanda Pallais, 2017. "Valuing Alternative Work Arrangements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(12), pages 3722-3759, December.
    3. Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2020. "Should We Cheer Together? Gender Differences in Instantaneous Well-Being during Joint and Solo Activities," IZA Discussion Papers 13306, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Andrew E. Clark & Elena Stancanelli, 2016. "Individual Well-Being and the Allocation of Time Before and After the Boston Marathon Terrorist Bombing," PSE Working Papers hal-01302843, HAL.
    5. Alexandre Mas & Amanda Pallais, 2019. "Alternative Work Arrangements," Working Papers 634, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    6. Thibaud Deguilhem & Jean-Philippe Berrou & François Combarnous, 2019. "Using your ties to get a worse job? The differential effects of social networks on quality of employment in Colombia," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 77(4), pages 493-522, October.
    7. 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.
    8. Andrew E. Clark & Orla Doyle & Elena Stancanelli, 2017. "The Impact of Terrorism on Well-being: Evidence from the Boston Marathon Bombing," Working Papers 201717, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    9. Olena Kostyshyna & Etienne Lalé, 2019. "On the Evolution of Multiple Jobholding in Canada," Staff Working Papers 19-49, Bank of Canada.
    10. Shapira, Chen & Vilnai-Yavetz, Iris & Rafaeli, Anat & Zemel, Moran, 2016. "Time clock requirements for hospital physicians," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(6), pages 690-697.
    11. Dirk-Hinnerk Fischer & Hovhannes Yeritsyan, 2018. "A Common Misunderstanding about Capitalism and Communism Through the Eyes of Innovation," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 7(2), pages 1-14, November.
    12. MORIKAWA Masayuki, 2018. "Uncertainty over Working Schedules and Compensating Wage Differentials: From the viewpoint of labor management," Discussion papers 18015, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    13. Deguilhem, Thibaud & Berrou, Jean-Philippe & Combarnous, François, 2017. "Using your ties to get a worse job? The differential effects of social networks on quality of employment: Evidence from Colombia," MPRA Paper 78628, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    weekend work; shorter hours; night work;

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies

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