More hours, more jobs? The employment effects of longer working hours

Andrews, Matt; Gerner, Hans-Dieter; Schänk, Thorsten; Upward, Richard

doi:10.1093/oep/gpu026

Cited by 5 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…However, for standard-hours-only (no overtime) firms, the neoclassical model predicts that an increase in standard hours will necessarily reduce employment (hours are substituted for workers) if output is held constant. Thus, even in this simplistic neoclassical labor demand model, a priori the employment effect of extending working hours is not clear [1].…”

Section: Substitution Effect Within Labor Due To a Change In Marginalmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Empirical studies of the relationship between actual hours and standard hours typically find an elasticity close to one [1]. This finding suggests that there is little relationship between overtime and standard hours, thus favoring a substitution of hours for employees in the short term when standard hours are increased.…”

Section: Empirical Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The policy was motivated by the idea that reducing the number of hours worked could boost employment by splitting up a fixed number of worker-hours among a larger number of workers. However, influential microeconometric studies have found no or even negative employment effects from such work-sharing policies [1]. The basic method for implementing this policy was to change the number of standard hours.…”

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Still, some companies in Germany increased standard hours in the first decade of the 2000s (Figure 1). It has been argued that these changes arose as a result of the companies' increasing power relative to unions in collective bargaining negotiations and companies' response to rising competition as a result of globalization [1]. There is no consensus in the public debate about the employment effects of these arrangements.…”

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For some industries, collective bargaining agreements concluded at the industry level between trade unions and employers allow establishments, under certain conditions, to deviate from collectively agreed standards on pay and working time. In the 2005 wave of the Institute for Employment Research's (IAB) Establishment Panel, 13% of establishments had such agreements, and 52% of them made such changes, usually in standard hours [1]. In the metalworking industry, for example, the collective agreement allows 13-18% (depending on the region) of the workforce to deviate from the standard 35-hour week and to work between 35 and 40 hours.…”

Section: Change In Hourly Wagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Employment effects of longer working hours

Schänk¹

2015

izawol

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Section: Substitution Effect Within Labor Due To a Change In Marginalmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Empirical Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Change In Hourly Wagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Employment effects of longer working hours

Schänk¹

2015

izawol

Self Cite

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The limitations of overtime limits to reduce long working hours: Evidence from the 2018 to 2021 working time reform in Korea

Carcillo

Hijzen

Thewissen

2023

Brit J Industrial Rel

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This article provides a first assessment of the causal impact of the 2018–2021 reform in Korea meant to combat its long working‐hour culture. The reform consists of lowering the statutory limit on total weekly working hours from 68 to 52. We apply a difference‐in‐difference approach in which we take advantage of the stepwise implementation of the reform by firm size using individual‐level data. We present three main findings. First, the introduction of the 52‐h limit reduced but far from eliminated the incidence of working more than 52 h. Second, there is some evidence that the introduction led to a reallocation of working hours, with more employees shifting from working fulltime to working overtime within the new limit (41–52 h). Third, and more tentatively, this reallocation more likely took place within firms to account for fewer overtime hours worked by their employees, rather than within households to compensate for any income effects. Overall, our results show that a lower statutory limit can help to lessen a long working‐hour culture, but is an insufficient measure by itself to fully eradicate it.

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Electronic monitoring of working time and labour market outcomes: Evidence from Brazil

Lira,

de Carvalho Schiavon,

da Silva Freguglia

2024

Industrial Relations Journal

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This study analyses the dynamics of registered firms after implementing a new law (2009) in the Brazilian labour market. The law proposed the electronic monitoring of working time to provide more efficiency and security by standardizing the equipment used for control and avoiding manipulation. As stricter monitoring may increase costs, this paper seeks to analyse whether there have been changes in the dynamics of firms adapting to the new regulation. There are two potential mechanisms as a reference: increasing wages and decreasing workers (or contracted hours), and increasing labour force and decreasing contracted hours per worker (and therefore the monthly wage). Using Brazilian employee–employer data and the difference‐in‐differences approach as an empirical strategy, our main findings suggest that firms that adapt to the new electronic workday control had a general reduction in the number of hours hired, an increase in wages for companies with 10–50 employees and a decrease in workplace accidents in firms with 50 or more employees.

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More hours, more jobs? The employment effects of longer working hours

Cited by 5 publications

References 21 publications

Employment effects of longer working hours

Employment effects of longer working hours

The limitations of overtime limits to reduce long working hours: Evidence from the 2018 to 2021 working time reform in Korea

Electronic monitoring of working time and labour market outcomes: Evidence from Brazil

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