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Holy days, lost days?

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  • Brüll, Eduard

Abstract

Do public holidays meaningfully affect economic output? In Germany, strict Sunday laws create a unique natural experiment: when public holidays fall on Sundays, they typically do not additionally disrupt business activity. Exploiting this variation across states and years, I estimate the economic cost of a "lost" workday. Using monthly manufacturing data and a stacked event-study approach, I find that weekday holidays lead to modest but measurable reductions in output. Scaling the estimates implies annual GDP losses between 0.06% and 0.28%, depending on whether the effect is assumed to apply only to manufacturing or to the whole economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Brüll, Eduard, 2025. "Holy days, lost days?," ZEW Discussion Papers 25-056, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:333392
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    JEL classification:

    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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