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Employment effects of longer working hours

Author

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  • Thorsten Schank

    (Johannes Gutenberg University, and IZA, Germany)

Abstract

Standard hours, a major component of total work hours, vary considerably across Europe. Many countries lowered their standard work hours during the 1980s and 1990s, attempting to boost employment by splitting up a fixed number of worker-hours among more workers. Germany has seen a partial reversal of the trend as several companies increased their standard hours to reduce their labor costs in the early 2000s. The employment effect of increased standard hours depends on the time horizon examined, how wages respond, whether employees collected overtime pay before the change, and the productivity of hours worked, among other factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Thorsten Schank, 2015. "Employment effects of longer working hours," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 216-216, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:y:2015:n:216
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jennifer Hunt, 1999. "Has Work-Sharing Worked in Germany?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 117-148.
    2. Hart,Robert A., 2004. "The Economics of Overtime Working," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521801423, September.
    3. Pierre Cahuc & André Zylberberg, 2004. "Labor Economics," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026203316x, April.
    4. Trejo, Stephen J, 1991. "The Effects of Overtime Pay Regulation on Worker Compensation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(4), pages 719-740, September.
    5. Lührmann, Melanie & Weiss, Matthias, 2010. "The effect of working time and labor force participation on unemployment: A new argument in an old debate," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 67-82, January.
    6. Martyn Andrews & Hans-Dieter Gerner & Thorsten Schank & Richard Upward, 2015. "More hours, more jobs? The employment effects of longer working hours," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(2), pages 245-268.
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1oclgdahv988ioh9b24346gvge is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Martins, Pedro S., 2016. "Can Overtime Premium Flexibility Promote Employment? Firm- and Worker-Level Evidence from a Labour Law Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 10205, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Martins, Pedro S., 2017. "Economic effects of overtime premium flexibility: Firm- and worker-level evidence from a law reform," GLO Discussion Paper Series 102, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labor demand; standard hours;

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions

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