Labour Supply During Lockdown and a "New Normal": The Case of the Netherlands

Gaudecker, Hans-Martin von; Holler, Radost; Janys, Lena; Siflinger, Bettina; Zimpelmann, Christian

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3682937

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The drop in average weekly work hours in this sample is comparable to nationwide numbers from a representative LISS panel study done by the University of Tilburg and IZA institute (Bonn) also showing an average reduction of 4 hour work hours per week among the Dutch population during the first COVID-19 lockdown(Von Gaudecker et al, 2020).…”

supporting

confidence: 78%

Declared Non-Essential during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Effects on Professional Identity

van Veelen,

Kruger,

Derks

et al. 2023

Preprint

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This study applies a social identity lens to show that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dutch government’s classification of occupations and labor market sectors as essential versus non-essential imposed a professional identity threat to those categorized as non-essential. Specifically, we hypothesized (1) that non-essential workers in the Netherlands would report lower professional identification (PI) during the pandemic relative to essential workers; (2) that non-essential workers’ mandatory shift to working from home and working fewer hours would (partially) explain their lower PI relative to essential workers; (3) that gender differences would emerge in the impact of categorization as (non-)essential worker on PI levels; and (4) that lower PI would negatively relate to work productivity and performance during the pandemic. Empirical evidence based on three cross-sectional datasets sampled among the Dutch working population during two peak waves of COVID-19 infections and national lockdowns (May/June 2020; Study 1: N = 371; November/December 2020, Study 2: N = 467; Study 3 = 735) all confirmed that non-essential workers reported lower PI relative to essential workers. The explanation for this outcome varied at different stages in the pandemic. Study 1 results showed that lower PI among those declared non-essential was partially explained by non-essential workers’ work location (home-bound) and reduced work hours, but only during the 1st peak wave. As the pandemic continued (2nd peak wave; Study 2 and 3), gender differences emerged, with more negative consequences of being classified non-essential for women than men. Non-essential workers’ lower PI levels were also associated with lower work productivity and performance. These findings underscore the importance of understanding social identity processes during the pandemic. We discuss socio-psychological ramifications of government regulations to control health crises, given how these may inadvertently undermine the professional identity of over half a working population in society.

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supporting

confidence: 78%

Declared Non-Essential during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Effects on Professional Identity

van Veelen,

Kruger,

Derks

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The sizeable estimates in Table 1 (a 72% increase in the unemployment rate) and the significant heterogeneity across cities and industries as highlighted in Figure 7 speak to the severity and unevenness of the pandemic’s labor market impacts and the importance of conducting analysis at granular levels. In addition, these results illustrate the ripple effect of the pandemic across cities within a country and across countries around the globe through the supply chain and trade channels, where a city’s (or country’s) industry composition, its exposure to trade, and the nature of the supply chain are crucial determinants of the effects of the pandemic on its economy ( Forsythe, 2020 , Goldberg, 2020 , von Gaudecker, Holler, Janys, Siflinger, Zimpelmann, 2020 , World Trade Organization, 2020a , World Trade Organization, 2020b ).…”

Section: Regression Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

The COVID-19 pandemic and unemployment: Evidence from mobile phone data from China

Barwick

Deng

et al. 2023

Journal of Urban Economics

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“…Most research in this field seeks to estimate the effect of self-employment on mental health, but accounting for selection into self-employment is a nontrivial task (Rietveld et al, 2015;Stephan et al, 2020 For employees, predictions based on the JDC model are mixed. Some employees switched to remote work at the onset of the pandemic (Schröder et al, 2020;von Gaudecker et al, 2020), increasing their flexibility in deciding how and when to carry out their work, which would increase their job control. Others were placed on short-time work if their employer was suffering demand shortages.…”

Section: The Jdc Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%