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Borjas, George J. & Daniel S. Hamermesh (2024): The Mismeasurement of Work Time: Implications for Wage Discrimination and Inequality. (NBER working paper / National Bureau of Economic Research 32025), Cambridge, Mass, 44 S.

Abstract

"Comparing measures of work time in the recall CPS-ASEC data with contemporaneous measures reveals many logical inconsistencies and probable errors. About 8 percent of ASEC respondents report weeks worked last year that contradict their current work histories in the Basic monthly interviews; the error rate is over 50 percent among workers who move in and out of the workforce. Over 20 percent give contradictory information about whether they usually work a full-time weekly schedule. Part of the inconsistency arises because an increasing fraction of ASEC respondents (over 20 percent by 2018) consists of people whose record was fully imputed. The levels and trends of the errors differ by gender and race, and they affect measured wage differentials between 1978 to 2018. Adjusting for the errors and imputations, gender wage gaps among all workers narrowed by 4 log points more than is commonly reported, and residual wage inequality decreased by 6 log points more. In a very carefully defined sample of full-time year-round workers, gender and racial wage differentials narrowed slightly less than previously estimated using ASEC data, but much more than indicated by commonly used estimates from CPS Outgoing Rotation Groups." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cai, Julie (2024): Work Hours Volatility and Child Poverty: The Potential Mitigating Role of Safety Net Programs. In: Social forces, Jg. 102, H. 3, S. 902-925. DOI:10.1093/sf/soad109

Abstract

"Despite established links among persistent unemployment, low wages, and children’s economic well-being, social scientists have yet to document how variability in work hours is linked to child poverty. Our knowledge of the safety net’s heterogeneous responses to work-hour instability is also limited. This is of critical importance for scholars and policymakers. Using nationally representative data collected every 4 months, this paper examines how intra-year work-hour volatility is related to child poverty, measured through both the official poverty measure (OPM) and the supplemental poverty measure (SPM). It further assesses varying degrees of buffering effects of cash, in-kind benefits, and tax transfers on income in the context of work-hour volatility. Results indicate that more than one in four households (26%) facing the greatest volatility lived under the poverty line. Black and Hispanic children, as well as those living with unpartnered single mothers, faced substantially higher variability in household market hours worked. Hispanic children experienced not only greater volatility in their caregivers’ work hours but also higher poverty level, even after taking government programs into account. In-kind benefits are more effective in buffering household income declines resulting from unstable work hours, followed by tax transfers and cash benefits. The effectiveness of near-cash benefits is particularly salient among Black children and children of single mothers. These results provide new evidence to inform policy discussions surrounding the best ways to help socioeconomically disadvantaged families to retain benefits and smooth their income in the face of frequent variation in work hours and, thus, earnings." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cho, Hyojin, Susan J. Lambert, Emily Ellis & Julia R. Henly (2024): How Work Hour Variability Matters for Work-to-Family Conflict. In: Work, Employment and Society online erschienen am 09.01.2024, S. 1-25. DOI:10.1177/09500170231218191

Abstract

"Variable work hours are an understudied source of work-to-family conflict (WFC). We examine the relationships between the magnitude and direction of work hour variability and WFC and whether work hour control and schedule predictability moderate these relationships. We estimate a series of linear regressions using the 2016 US General Social Survey, examining women and men workers separately and together. Findings indicate that as the magnitude of work hour variability increases, so does WFC, controlling for the usual number of hours worked. Work hour control helps to protect workers, especially women, from WFC when work hour variability is high and hours surge. Although schedule predictability tempers the relationship between work hour variability and WFC, its potency diminishes as variability increases. Our study emphasizes the potential benefit to workers and families of government policies and employer practices that promote work hour stability, schedule predictability, and equity in employee work hour control." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Logan, Allison & Daniel Schneider (2024): Parental Exposure to Work Schedule Instability and Child Sleep Quality. In: Work, Employment and Society online erschienen am 28.04.2024. DOI:10.1177/09500170241235863

Abstract

"Recent scholarship has documented the effects of unstable scheduling practices on worker health and well-being, but there has been less research examining the intergenerational consequences of work schedule instability. This study investigates the relationship between parental exposure to unstable and unpredictable work schedules and child sleep quality. We find evidence of significant and large associations between parental exposure to each of five different types of unstable and unpredictable work scheduling practices and child sleep quality, including sleep duration, variability and daytime sleepiness. We are also able to mediate 35 –50% of this relationship with measures of work–life conflict, parental stress and well-being, material hardship, and child behaviour. These findings suggest that the effects of the temporal dimensions of job quality extend beyond workers to their children, with implications for the mechanisms by which social inequality is reproduced and for social policies intended to regulate precarious and unequal employment conditions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cotofan, Maria & Konstantinos Matakos (2023): Adapting or compounding? The effects of recurring labour shocks on stated and revealed preferences for redistribution. (CEP discussion paper / Centre for Economic Performance 1957), London, 34 S.

Abstract

"The evidence on the impact of employment shocks on preferences for redistribution is mixed on stated outcomes and sparse on revealed ones. We conduct a survey of US workers to measure the impact of repeated labour market shocks on both stated and revealed redistributive preferences. We measure the former by support on seven different policies and the latter through donations. We look at experiences of both mild shocks (having to reduce working hours) and hard shocks (unemployment), as well as past unemployment during formative years. We find evidence of adaptation to unemployment on policy preferences and compounding for milder shocks on donations, suggesting that the effects of repeated shocks on preferences for redistribution are not independent. Our results show that unemployment impacts preferences in a self-interested way, while milder shocks lead to broader support for redistribution." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Elvery, Joel A., C. Lockwood Reynolds & Shawn M. Rohlin (2023): Employer Wage Subsidy Caps and Part-Time Work. In: ILR review, Jg. 76, H. 1, S. 189-209. DOI:10.1177/00197939221102865

Abstract

"Using tract-level US Census data and triple-difference estimators, the authors test whether firms increase their use of part-time workers when faced with capped wage subsidies. By limiting the maximum subsidy per worker, such subsidies create incentives for firms to increase the share of their payroll that is eligible for the subsidy by increasing use of part-time or low-wage workers. Results suggest that firms located in federal Empowerment Zones in the United States responded to the program’s capped wage subsidies by expanding their use of part-time workers, particularly in locations where the subsidy cap is likely to bind. Results also show a shift toward hiring lower-skill workers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Fan, Wen, Juliet Schor, Orla Kelly & Guolin Gu (2023): Does work time reduction improve workers' well-being? Evidence from global four-day workweek trials. (SocArXiv papers), 46 S. DOI:10.31235/osf.io/7ucy9

Abstract

"Time spent on the job is a fundamental aspect of working conditions that influences many aspects of individuals’ lives. In this ground-breaking research, we study how an organization-wide four-day workweek Intervention - with no reduction in pay - affects workers’ well-being. Participating organizations undergo pre-trial work reorganisation to improve efficiency and collaboration, followed by a six-month four-day workweek trial. Based on data collected from 2,134 employees in 123 organizations before and after the trial, we find that the trial leads to improvements in multiple measures of subjective well-being, including burnout, job satisfaction, positive affect, mental health, and physical health. Larger reductions in individuals' weekly hours predict greater gains in well-being outcomes. Mediation analysis indicates that three factors significantly contribute to the relationship between reduced working hours and increased well-being: improvements in self-reported work ability, reductions in sleep problems, and decreased levels of fatigue." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gihleb, Rania, Osea Giuntella & Jian Qi Tan (2023): The Impact of Right-to-Work Laws on Long Hours and Work Schedules. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 16588), Bonn, 59 S.

Abstract

"Unions play a crucial role in determining wages and employment outcomes. However, union bargaining power may also have important effects on non-pecuniary working conditions. We study the effects of right-to-work laws, which removed agency shop protection and weakened union powers on long hours and non-standard work schedules that may adversely affect workers' health and safety. We exploit variation in the timing of enactment across US states and compare workers in bordering counties across adopting states and states that did not adopt the laws yet. Using the stacked approach to difference-in-differences estimates proposed by Cengiz et al. (2019), we find evidence that right-to-work laws increased the share of workers working long hours by 6%, while there is little evidence of an impact on hourly wages. The effects on long hours are larger in more unionized sectors (i.e. construction, manufacturing, and transportation). While the likelihood of working non-standard hours increases for particular sectors (education and public administration), there is no evidence of a significant increase in the overall sample." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lachowska, Marta, Alexandre Mas, Raffaele Saggio & Stephen A. Woodbury (2023): Work Hours Mismatch. (NBER working paper / National Bureau of Economic Research 31205), Cambridge, Mass, 94 S.

Abstract

"This paper uses a revealed preference approach applied to administrative data from Washington to document and characterize work-hour constraints. Workers have limited discretion over hours at a given employer, and there is substantial mismatch between workers who prefer long hours and employers that provide short hours. Voluntary job transitions suggest that the ratio of the marginal rate of substitution of earnings for hours (MRS) to the wage rate is on the order of 0.5-0.6 for prime-age workers. The average absolute deviation between observed hours and optimal hours is about 15%, and constraints on hours are particularly acute among low-wage workers. On average, observed hours tend to be less than preferred levels, and workers would require a 12% higher wage with their current employer to be as well off as they would be after moving to an employer offering ideal hours. These findings suggest that hours constraints are an equilibrium feature of the labor market because long-hour jobs are costly to employers, and that employers offer high-wage/long-hour packages to increase their overall value of employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lee, Dain, Jinhyeok Park & Yongseok Shin (2023): Where Are the Workers? From Great Resignation to Quiet Quitting. (NBER working paper / National Bureau of Economic Research 30833), Cambridge, Mass, 19 S.

Abstract

"To better understand the tight post-pandemic labor market in the US, we decompose the decline in aggregate hours worked into the extensive (fewer people working) and the intensive margin changes (workers working fewer hours). Although the pre-existing trend of lower labor force participation especially by young men without a bachelor's degree accounts for some of the decline in aggregate hours, the intensive margin accounts for more than half of the decline between 2019 and 2022. The decline in hours among workers was larger for men than women. Among men, the decline was larger for those with a bachelor's degree than those with less education, for prime-age workers than older workers, and also for those who already worked long hours and had high earnings. Workers' hours reduction can explain why the labor market is even tighter than what is expected at the current levels of unemployment and labor force participation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff & Victoria Vernon (2023): Remote Work, Wages, and Hours Worked in the United States. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 16420), Bonn, 48 S.

Abstract

"Remote wage employment gradually increased in the United States during the four decades prior to the pandemic, then surged in 2020 due to social distancing policies implemented to stem the spread of COVID-19. Using the 2010–2021 American Community Survey, the authors examine trends in wage and hours differentials for full-time remote workers and office-based workers as well as within occupation differences in wage growth by work location. Throughout the period, remote workers earned higher wages than those working on-site, and the difference increased sharply during the pandemic. Real wages grew 4.4 percent faster for remote workers within detailed occupation groups and remote work intensity was positively associated with wage growth across occupations. Before the pandemic, remote workers worked substantially longer hours per week than on-site workers, but by 2021, hours were similar." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Paek, Eunjeong (2023): Workplace computerization and inequality in schedule control. In: Social science research, Jg. 116. DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102939

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Behringer, Jan, Martin Gonzalez Granda & Till van Treeck (2022): Varieties of the rat race: Working hours in the age of abundance. (ifso working paper 17), Duisburg, 33 S.

Abstract

"We ask why working hours in the rich world have not declined more sharply or even risen at times since the early 1980s, despite a steady increase in productivity, and why they vary so much across rich countries. We use an internationally comparable database on working hours (Bick et al., 2019) and conduct panel data estimations for a sample of 17 European countries and the United States over the period 1983-2019. We find that high or increasing top-end income inequality, decentralized labor relations, and limited government provision of education and other in-kind services contribute to long working hours. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that upward-looking status comparisons in positional consumption ("Veblen effects") contribute to a "rat race" of long working hours that is more or less pronounced in different varieties of capitalism." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bick, Alexander, Adam Blandin & Richard Rogerson (2022): Hours and Wages. In: The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Jg. 137, H. 3, S. 1901-1962. DOI:10.1093/qje/qjac005

Abstract

"We document two robust features of the cross-sectional distribution of usual weekly hours and hourly wages. First, usual weekly hours are heavily concentrated around 40 hours, while at the same time a substantial share of total hours come from individuals who work more than 50 hours. Second, mean hourly wages are nonmonotonic across the usual hours distribution, with a peak at 50 hours. We develop and estimate a model of labor supply to account for these features. The novel feature of our model is that earnings are nonlinear in hours, with the extent of nonlinearity varying over the hours distribution. Our estimates imply significant wage penalties for people who deviate from 40 hours in either direction, leading to a large mass of people who work 40 hours and are not very responsive to shocks. This has important implications for the role of labor supply as a mechanism for self-insurance in a standard heterogeneous-agent incomplete-markets model and for empirical strategies designed to estimate labor supply parameters." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Del Rey, Elena, Joaquín Naval & Jose I. Silva (2022): Hours and wages: A bargaining approach. In: Economics Letters, Jg. 217. DOI:10.1016/j.econlet.2022.110652

Abstract

"In a recent paper, Bick et al. (2022) show the presence of a hump-shaped relationship between hours and hourly wages with a maximum around 50 h worked. We show that a model with fixed labor costs where workers and firms bargain in wages and hours can help explain this non-linear relationship. Also, a quantitative version of the model is able to match the empirical hourly-wage to hours worked relationship estimated by those authors for the US." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2022 Elsevier) ((en))

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Florio, Erminia & Aicha Kharazi (2022): Curtailment of Economic Activity and Labor Inequalities. (GLO discussion paper / Global Labor Organization 1166), Essen, 50 S.

Abstract

"The worrying combination of the labor market tightness and the wage inflation in the US since the pandemic raises a question on how the business closure orders affected the fragile segments of the labor force and contributed to mounting inflationary wage pressure. We develop a macroeconomic model with heterogeneous labor and a nested CES production function. We estimate the model using the newly collected data from the CPS and the BEA. The recent crisis leads to a contraction in total hours worked, makes wages more volatile, and sustains wage inflation. The model also generates differential effects of the business closure orders on productivity and the labor market in the US. The earning rates and hours responses to the crisis differ by age, skills, and origin of the worker." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Flüter-Hoffmann, Christiane & Oliver Stettes (2022): Homeoffice nach fast zwei Jahren Pandemie. Ein Rück- und Ausblick über die Verbreitung und Struktur der räumlichen und zeitlichen Flexibilisierung von Arbeit in Deutschland, Europa und den USA. (IW-Report / Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft Köln 2022,02), Köln, 56 S.

Abstract

"Die hier vorliegende Studie zeigt einen Rück- und Ausblick über die Verbreitung und Struktur der räumlichen und zeitlichen Flexibilisierung von Arbeit in Deutschland, Europa und den USA." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Lachowska, Marta, Alexandre Mas & Stephen A. Woodbury (2022): How Reliable are Administrative Reports of Paid Work Hours? (Upjohn Institute working paper 361), Kalamazoo, Mich., 49 S. DOI:10.17848/wp22-361

Abstract

"This paper examines the quality of quarterly records on work hours collected from employers in the State of Washington to administer the unemployment insurance (UI) system, specifically to determine eligibility for UI. We subject the administrative records to four “trials,” all of which suggest the records reliably measure paid hours of work. First, distributions of hours in the administrative records and Current Population Survey outgoing rotation groups (CPS) both suggest that 52–54% of workers work approximately 40 hours per week. Second, in the administrative records, quarter-to-quarter changes in the log of earnings are highly correlated with quarter-to-quarter changes in the log of paid hours. Third, annual changes in Washington’s minimum wage rate (which is indexed) are clearly reflected in year-to-year changes in the distribution of paid hours in the administrative data. Fourth, Mincer-style wage rate and earnings regressions using the administrative data produce estimates similar to those found elsewhere in the literature." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Landivar, Liana Christin, Rose A. Woods & Gretchen M. Livingston (2022): Does part-time work offer flexibility to employed mothers? In: Monthly labor review H. February. DOI:10.21916/mlr.2022.7

Abstract

"Using data from the 2017-18 American Time Use Survey Leave and Job Flexibilities Module, we evaluate the relationship between part-time work and job flexibility among civilian employed mothers who are wage and salary workers. Results show that mothers working part time are employed in jobs that lack many of the attributes that would characterize these jobs as flexible. Mothers in part-time jobs were less likely to have paid leave, work-at-home access, and advanced schedule notice. Although part-time jobs require fewer work hours, these shorter work hours may come at a cost of reduced flexibility, pay, and availability of family-friendly benefits." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mertehikian, Yasmin A. & Pilar Gonalons-Pons (2022): Work and Family Disadvantage: Determinants of Gender Gaps in Paid Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In: Socius, Jg. 8, S. 1-12. DOI:10.1177/23780231221117649

Abstract

"This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the increase in gender inequality in paid work during the pandemic to unpack the relative relevance of labor market and work-family conflict processes. Using panel data from the United States Current Population Survey, we examine four mechanisms in an integrated analysis that explicitly includes single-parent households and assesses the moderating role of women’s economic position relative to their partners. The results indicate that increases in gender inequality during the pandemic were heavily concentrated in households with children but also partly connected to gender differences in prepandemic labor market positions and to the higher prevalence of women in lower earner position relative to their partners. Single parents were more negatively impacted than partnered parents, but the disproportionate concentration of this impact on women does not contribute much to increases in overall gender inequality due to the relatively smaller size of this group." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Anelli, Massimo & Felix König (2021): Willingness to Pay for Workplace Safety. (CESifo working paper 9469), München, 59 S.

Abstract

"This paper develops a revealed-preference approach that uses budget constrain discontinuities to price workplace safety. We track hourly workers who face the decision of how many hours to work at varying levels of Covid-19 risk and leverage state-specific discontinuities in unemployment insurance eligibility criteria to identify the labor supply behavior. Results show large baseline responses at the threshold and increasing responses for higher health risks. The observed behavior implies that workers are willing to accept 34% lower incomes to reduce the fatality rate by one standard deviation, or 1% of income for a one in a million chance of dying." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Eden, Maya (2021): Time Inseparable Labor Productivity and the Workweek. In: The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Jg. 123, H. 3, S. 940-965. DOI:10.1111/sjoe.12429

Abstract

"A centuries-old tradition, the week constitutes a coordination device that allows for temporal agglomeration in both production and leisure. But does it induce coordination on the optimal workweek? Central to this question is the nature of time-inseparability in labor productivity. Productivity is increasing in restfulness, which diminishes with work time, and in skill, which improves with work time. I show that, because skill accumulates and depreciates slowly, there are productivity gains from coordinating on a workweek with fewer but more frequent vacation days. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Fitzroy, Felix & Jim Jin (2021): Some Welfare Economics of Working Time. (IZA discussion paper 14810), Bonn, 27 S.

Abstract

"Few skilled workers in the UK have flexible working time – GPs are the exception – most can only choose between unemployment, or full-time work, which has changed little in recent years, while part time work is mainly unskilled. This market rigidity imposes major welfare losses, in contrast to flexibility of worktime for all in the Netherlands, which has the best work-life balance. Stagnating real wages and rising employer market power and inequality follow declining unionisation, but a standard four-day week, tax reform, basic income, and flexibility rights for all could reverse these trends and provide major welfare gains." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kolasa, Marcin, Michal Rubaszek & Małgorzata Walerych (2021): Do flexible working hours amplify or stabilize unemployment fluctuations? In: European Economic Review, Jg. 131. DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103605

Abstract

"In this paper we challenge the conventional view that increasing working time flexibility limits the amplitude of unemployment fluctuations. We start by showing that hours per worker in European countries are much less procyclical than in the US, and even co-move negatively with output in selected economies. This is confirmed by the results from a structural VAR model for the euro area, in which hours per worker increase after a contractionary monetary shock, exacerbating the upward pressure on unemployment. To understand these counterintuitive results, we develop a structural search and matching macroeconomic model with endogenous job separations that resemble layoffs. We show that this feature is key to generating a countercyclical response of hours per worker. When we augment the model with frictions in working hours adjustment and estimate it using euro area time series, we find that increasing flexibility of working time amplifies cyclical movements in unemployment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2021 Elsevier) ((en))

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Lambert, Susan J. & Anna Haley (2021): Implementing Work Scheduling Regulation: Compliance and Enforcement Challenges at the Local Level. In: ILR review, Jg. 74, H. 5, S. 1231-1257. DOI:10.1177/00197939211031227

Abstract

"Employment legislation intended to establish scheduling standards in hourly jobs is spreading across US cities. Yet the well-documented role that cost-focused business models play in shaping manager practices forecasts uneven compliance. Joining perspectives from labor and public policy studies, the authors examine variation in the organizational Arena - local workplaces - where implementation of scheduling regulation is set to play out. Analyses draw on surveys and interviews with 52 retail and food service managers on the eve of enactment of Seattle’s Secure Scheduling Ordinance. By capturing the full range of variation in managers’ scheduling practices prior to enactment, and their distance from legal compliance, the authors contribute unique insight into the prospects of establishing universal work hour standards in service industries and the varying pathways employers will likely pursue toward regulatory compliance. Findings suggest targets for enforcement and manager training and offer insight into the implementation challenges posed by municipal-level regulation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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McKinnish, Terra (2021): Prevalence of Long Work Hours by Spouse’s Degree Field and the Labor Market Outcomes of Skilled Women. In: ILR review, Jg. 74, H. 4, S. 898-919. DOI:10.1177/0019793920901703

Abstract

"Using 2009 to 2015 American Community Survey (ACS) data, this article estimates the effect of the prevalence of long hours and short hours of work in a husband’s field of work, as defined by his undergraduate degree field, on the labor market outcomes of skilled married women. When individuals work in fields that require longer hours of work, their spouses experience spillover effects. The labor market outcomes of female spouses are more negatively affected than are those of male spouses. Specifically, female spouses face lower total earnings, hourly wages, employment options, and hours of work for married women with children relative to married men with children or married women without children. Little evidence supports the idea that the rate of short hours of work in a spouse’s degree field differentially affects married women with children." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel & Etienne Lalé (2020): The ins and outs of involuntary part-time employment. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 67. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2020.101940

Abstract

"We develop and implement a protocol to measure U.S. monthly time series of involuntary part-time employment stocks and flows from 1976 until today. Armed with these new data, we provide a comprehensive account of the cyclical dynamics of involuntary part-time work. We find that the recessionary increase in involuntary part-time employment is consistently driven by a jump in the transition probability from other employment states to involuntary part-time employment, and a drop in the reverse transition probability. We compare the dynamics of unemployment and involuntary part-time employment to argue that they reflect the operation of distinct labor-adjustment channels. While unemployment dynamics are driven by movements in job creation and destruction, the dynamics of involuntary part-time employment reflect changes in employers' labor utilization." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2021 Elsevier) ((en))

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Burger, Anna S. (2020): Extreme work hours in Western Europe and North America: diverging trends since the 1970s. In: Socio-economic review, Jg. 18, H. 4, S. 1065-1087. DOI:10.1093/ser/mwy020

Abstract

"This article presents a political economy analysis of extreme work hours in 18 advanced Western economies since the 1970s. Empirically, it shows that the culture of long work hours has gained significance not only in the Anglo-Saxon but also in most Continental European welfare states. Theoretically, it provides an institutionalist argument against the neoclassical, or supply-side, point of view on the drivers of long work hours in post-industrial labour markets. It demonstrates that the choice to work long hours is not entirely, or even mainly, left to the preference of the individual. Instead, individual choices are constrained by labour market policies, collective bargaining institutions and new labour market structures, the pattern and trends of which do not necessarily follow the contours of the regime typology. Data on extreme work hours was compiled from the Luxembourg Income Study and the Multinational Time Use Study micro-data collections." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Schröder, Martin (2020): Men Lose Life Satisfaction with Fewer Hours in Employment: Mothers Do Not Profit from Longer Employment. Evidence from Eight Panels. In: Social indicators research, Jg. 152, H. 1, S. 317-334. DOI:10.1007/s11205-020-02433-5

Abstract

"This article uses random and fixed effects regressions with 743,788 observations from panels of East and West Germany, the UK, Australia, South Korea, Russia, Switzerland and the United States. It shows how the life satisfaction of men and especially fathers in these countries increases steeply with paid working hours. In contrast, the life satisfaction of childless women is less related to long working hours, while the life satisfaction of mothers hardly depends on working hours at all. In addition, women and especially mothers are more satisfied with life when their male partners work longer, while the life satisfaction of men hardly depend on their female partners' work hours. These differences between men and women are starker where gender attitudes are more traditional. They cannot be explained through differences in income, occupations, partner characteristics, period or cohort effects. These results contradict role expansionist theory, which suggests that men and women profit similarly from moderate work hours; they support role conflict theory, which claims that men are most satisfied with longer and women with shorter work hours." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Huh, Hyeon-seung & David Kim (2019): Sources of fluctuations in hours worked for Canada, Germany, Japan and the U.S. A sign restriction VAR approach. In: Applied Economics, Jg. 51, H. 15, S. 1634-1646. DOI:10.1080/00036846.2018.1528333

Abstract

"This study empirically examines the sources of fluctuations in hours worked in Canada, Germany, Japan and the U.S. It is particularly motivated by Galí's (1999) VAR study, which demonstrates that a positive technology shock reduces hours worked, at least in the short run. However, in the present study, a technology shock is identified without recourse to Galí's long-run restriction, which has been subject to active controversy. Furthermore, this study uncovers other important sources of fluctuations in hours worked to reflect the concern, raised by numerous studies, that technology shocks leave most variations in hours worked unexplained. Specifically, there are six shocks underlying our model, and they are identified using a set of sign restrictions. The empirical results confirm that in all four countries, a positive technology shock significantly reduces hours worked. This technology shock, along with labor supply and demand shocks, accounts for most of the short-term variations in hours worked. As the forecasting horizon increases, technology and demand shocks become less important, whereas labor supply shocks contribute to explaining the bulk of long-run variations in hours worked. Finally, the empirical relevance of Galí's long-run identification restriction is tested and the results are related to those obtained using the sign restriction model." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mas, Alexandre & Amanda Pallais (2019): Labor supply and the value of non-work time: Experimental estimates from the field. In: American economic review. Insights, Jg. 1, H. 1, S. 111-126. DOI:10.1257/aeri.20180070

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Messenger, Jon C. (Hrsg.) (2019): Telework in the 21st Century. An Evolutionary Perspective. (The ILO Future of Work series), Cheltenham: Elgar, 352 S. DOI:10.4337/9781789903751

Abstract

"Technological developments have enabled a dramatic expansion and also an evolution of telework, broadly defined as using ICTs to perform work from outside of an employer’s premises. This volume offers a new conceptual framework explaining the evolution of telework over four decades. It reviews national experiences from Argentina, Brazil, India, Japan, the United States, and ten EU countries regarding the development of telework, its various forms and effects. It also analyses large-scale surveys and company case studies regarding the incidence of telework and its effects on working time, work-life balance, occupational health and well-being, and individual and organizational performance." (Author's abstract, © Edward Elgar Publishing) ((en))

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Bell, David N.F. & David G. Blanchflower (2018): Underemployment in the US and Europe. (NBER working paper 24927), Cambrige, Mass., 44 S. DOI:10.3386/w24927

Abstract

"Large numbers of part-time workers around the world, both those who choose to be part-time and those who are there involuntarily and would prefer a full-time job report they want more hours. Full-timers who say they want to change their hours mostly say they want to reduce them. When recession hit in most countries the number of hours of those who said they wanted more hours, rose sharply and there was a fall in the number of hours that full-timers wanted their hours reduced by. Even though the unemployment rate has returned to its pre-recession levels in many advanced countries, underemployment in most has not.
We produce estimates for a new, and better, underemployment rate for twenty-five European countries. In most underemployment remains elevated. We provide evidence for the UK and the US as well as some international evidence that underemployment rather than unemployment lowers pay in the years after the Great Recession. We also find evidence for the US that falls in the home ownership rate have helped to keep wage pressure in check. Underemployment replaces unemployment as the main influence on wages in the years since the Great Recession." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Butrica, Barbara A. & Nadia S. Karamcheva (2018): In debt and approaching retirement. Claim social security or work longer? In: AEA papers and proceedings, Jg. 108, S. 401-406. DOI:10.1257/pandp.20181116

Abstract

"Over the past couple of decades, older Americans have become considerably more leveraged. This paper considers whether household debt affects the timing of retirement and Social Security benefit claiming. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we find that older adults with debt are more likely to work and less likely to receive Social Security benefits than those who are debt-free. Indebted adults are also more likely to delay fully retiring from the labor force and claiming their benefits. Among the sources of debt, mortgages have a stronger impact on older adults' behavior than do other sources of debt." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Finnigan, Ryan (2018): Varying weekly work hours and earnings instability in the Great Recession. In: Social science research, Jg. 74, H. August, S. 96-107. DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.05.005

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Finnigan, Ryan & Jo Mhairi Hale (2018): Working 9 to 5? Union membership and work hours and schedules. In: Social forces, Jg. 96, H. 4, S. 154-1568. DOI:10.1093/sf/sox101

Abstract

"Millions of workers in the United States experience volatile weekly working hours and nonstandard shift work, particularly following the Great Recession. These aspects of work schedules bring greater economic insecurity and work-life conflict, particularly for low-wage workers. In the absence of strong and widespread policies regulating work hours in the United States, labor unions may significantly limit varying hours and nonstandard shifts. However, any benefits of union membership could depend on local unionization rates, which vary widely between states. This paper analyzes the relationship between union membership and varying weekly work hours and nonstandard schedules among hourly workers using data from the 2004-2007 and 2008-2012 Surveys of Income and Program Participation. The results show that union members were significantly less likely to report varying numbers of hours from week to week, particularly in states with relatively high unionization rates. In contrast, union members were more likely to report nonstandard schedules. The earnings penalties for varying hours and nonstandard schedules are significantly weaker among union members than non-members. Altogether, the results demonstrate some of unions' continued benefits for workers, and some of their limitations." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Fleche, Sarah, Anthony Lepinteur & Nattavudh Powdthavee (2018): Gender norms and relative working hours. Why do women suffer more than men from working longer hours than their partners? In: AEA papers and proceedings, Jg. 108, S. 163-168. DOI:10.1257/pandp.20181098

Abstract

"Constraints that prevent women from working longer hours are argued to be important drivers of the gender wage gap in the United States. We provide evidence that in couples where the wife's working hours exceed the husband's, the wife reports lower life satisfaction. By contrast, there is no effect on the husband's satisfaction. The results still hold when controlling for relative income. We argue that these patterns are best explained by perceived fairness of the division of household labor, which induces an aversion to a situation where the wife works more at home and on the labor market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio, José Alberto Molina & Jorge Velilla (2018): Telework, the timing of work, and instantaneous well-being. Evidence from time use data. (IZA discussion paper 11271), Bonn, 38 S.

Abstract

"In this paper, we analyze the time allocation decisions of teleworkers, and compare them with their commuter counterparts. Using data from the American Time Use Survey for the years 2003 to 2015, we analyze the time spent working, the timing of work, and the instant enjoyment experienced while working, of teleworkers and commuters. Results show that teleworkers devote 40% less time to market work activities than do commuters, and less than 60% of both male and female teleworkers work at 'regular hours', vs around 80% of similar commuters. A higher percentage of teleworkers than commuters are engaged in leisure and non-market work at the central hours of the day. Using additional information from the Well-being Module for the years 2012 and 2013, we find that male teleworkers experience higher levels of satisfaction while working than do commuters, net of differences in socio-demographic and job characteristics. Our results point towards male telecommuters being happier in their job tasks than commuters, which may lead to a higher productivity of the former, and explains why teleworkers are able to work fewer hours per day." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Schoonbroodt, Alice (2018): Parental child care during and outside of typical work hours. In: Review of Economics of the Household, Jg. 16, H. 2, S. 453-476. DOI:10.1007/s11150-016-9336-y

Abstract

"It has been argued that child care should be treated separately from leisure or housework when analyzing time use data. This is because child care has a positive income gradient, whereas leisure and housework do not. Using U.S. data from PSID-CDS, this paper computes parental child care during and outside of typical work hours (TWH) by income quintile for two-parent families. The TWH distinction is important because the opportunity cost of spending time with children is first and foremost in terms of forgone earnings during TWH; outside of TWH, leisure or housework mainly constitute this opportunity cost. Indeed, I find that child care decreases with income during TWH and, hence, behaves similarly to leisure and other household chores. While maternal child care also slightly decreases with income outside of TWH, paternal care increases with income outside of TWH. Also, the discrepancy between paternal and maternal child care is smaller outside of TWH than it is during TWH. This is particularly pronounced in high income families. Theoretical implications are derived in a static framework of time allocation and child quality production encompassing the recent literature on the topic. Variation in child care during TWH can be rationalized by assuming a high elasticity of substitution between leisure, consumption and child quality. This is the standard explanation for the patterns observed in leisure and housework. Within this widely used framework, however, the facts outside of TWH point to systematic differences by income in preferences or productivity. Further exploration of child care patterns during and outside of TWH is needed to inform us about the dimensions in which this widely used framework should be extended." (Author's abstract, © Springer-Verlag) ((en))

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Cotti, Chad D., M. Ryan Haley & Laurie A. Miller (2017): Assessing the impact of different workplace flexibilities on workplace stress in the presence of varying degrees of job control. In: Applied Economics Letters, Jg. 24, H. 3, S. 198-201. DOI:10.1080/13504851.2016.1176108

Abstract

"We apply probit and propensity score matching to 1667 respondents from the 2008 National Survey of the Changing Workforce to quantify how workers' self-reported stress levels vary under two different workplace flexibilities and varying degrees of job control. The first workplace flexibility considered is the ability to easily take time off for personal and family matters; the second is the option of a compressed work week. Our findings suggest that the first flexibility correlates with lower stress reports regardless of job control level. The second flexibility, however, correlates with lower stress levels only for workers with low levels of job control. This suggests that a compressed work week does not reduce stress for workers that already have high levels of job control. The more general conclusion is that some flexibilities are substitutes for job control whereas other are not, assuming the larger goal is the reduction of workplace stress and the various maladies exacerbated by stress." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mas, Alexandre & Amanda Pallais (2017): Valuing alternative work arrangements. In: The American economic review, Jg. 107, H. 12, S. 3722-3759. DOI:10.1257/aer.20161500

Abstract

"We employ a discrete choice experiment in the employment process for a national call center to estimate the willingness to pay distribution for alternative work arrangements relative to traditional office positions. Most workers are not willing to pay for scheduling flexibility, though a tail of workers with high valuations allows for sizable compensating differentials. The average worker is willing to give up 20 percent of wages to avoid a schedule set by an employer on short notice, and 8 percent for the option to work from home. We also document that many job-seekers are inattentive, and we account for this in estimation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bee, C. Adam & Joshua Mitchell (2016): The hidden resources of women working longer. Evidence from linked survey-administrative data. (NBER working paper 22970), Cambrige, Mass., 40 S. DOI:10.3386/w22970

Abstract

"Despite women's increased labor force attachment over the lifecycle, household surveys such as the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) do not show increases in retirement income (pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs) for women at older ages. We use linked survey-administrative data to demonstrate that retirement incomes are considerably underreported in the CPS ASEC and that women's economic progress at older ages has been substantially understated over the last quarter century. Specifically, the CPS ASEC shows median household income for women age 65-69 rose 21 percent since the late 1980s, while the administrative records show an increase of 58 percent. Survey biases in women's own incomes appear largest for women with the longest work histories. We also exploit the panel dimension of our data to follow a cohort of women and their spouses (if present) as they transition into retirement in recent years. In contrast to previous work, we find that most women do not experience noticeable drops in income up to five years after claiming social security, with retirement income playing an important role in maintaining their overall standard of living. Our results pose a challenge to the literature on the 'retirement consumption puzzle' and suggest total income replacement rates are high for recent retirees." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bick, Alexander, Bettina Brüggemann & Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln (2016): Hours worked in Europe and the US. New data, new answers. (IZA discussion paper 10179), Bonn, 44 S.

Abstract

"We use national labor force surveys from 1983 through 2011 to construct hours worked per person on the aggregate level and for different demographic groups for 18 European countries and the US. We find that Europeans work 19% fewer hours than US citizens. Differences in weeks worked and in the educational composition each account for one third to one half of this gap. Lower hours per person than in the US are in addition driven by lower weekly hours worked in Scandinavia and Western Europe, but by lower employment rates in Eastern and Southern Europe." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel & Etienne Lalé (2016): The welfare effects of involuntary part-time work. (Sciences Po Economics Discussion Paper 2016-05), Paris, 30 S.

Abstract

"Employed individuals in the U.S. are increasingly more likely to work part-time involuntarily than to be unemployed. Spells of involuntary part-time work are different from unemployment spells: a full-time worker who takes on a part-time job suffers an earnings loss while remaining employed, and is unlikely to receive income compensation from publicly-provided insurance programs. We analyze these differences through the lens of an incomplete-market, job-search model featuring unemployment risk alongside an additional risk of involuntary part-time employment. A calibration of the model consistent with U.S. institutions and labor-market dynamics shows that involuntary part-time work generates lower welfare losses relative to unemployment. This finding relies critically on the much higher probability to return to full-time employment from part-time work. We interpret it as a premium in access to full-time work faced by involuntary part-time workers, and use our model to tabulate its value in consumption-equivalent units." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Borowczyk-Martins, Daniel & Etienne Lalé (2016): The rise of part-time employment. (Sciences Po Economics Discussion Paper 2016-04), Paris, 48 S.

Abstract

"We construct new monthly time series of U.S. labor market stocks and flows from 1976 onwards. These data reveal an upward secular trend in turnover between full-time and part-time employment, and a large cyclical component chiefly explained by fluctuations in involuntary part-time work. Both short-run and long-run reallocations occur mostly without an intervening spell of non-employment, and therefore cannot be uncovered without splitting employment into finer categories. We emphasize the importance of our findings for several active debates, such as the slowdown in U.S. labor-market dynamism, changes in job stability and security, and the assessment of labor-market slack." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Carrillo, Dani, Kristen Harknett, Allison Logan, Sigrid Luhr & Daniel Schneider (2016): On-call job, on-call family. The necessity of family support among retail workers with unstable work schedules. (Washington Center for Equitable Growth. Working paper 2016-11), Washington, DC, 39 S.

Abstract

"Drawing on 25 in-depth interviews with parents employed in the service sector in the San Francisco Bay area, we describe an array of challenges: insufficient work hours, volatile incomes, unpredictable schedules, and the lack of flexibility for time off. Meeting the demands of work and parenting almost invariably involved reliance on informal child care support. Working parents with stable schedules were often able to manage parenting responsibilities using a 'tag-team' parenting approach. Those with unstable schedules often engaged in a 'child-care scramble' in which the care arrangements were pieced together on an ad hoc basis. Some parents with unstable work schedules were able to avoid this instability by relying heavily on one 'family anchor,' usually a grandparent, who could consistently provide child care. In sum, on-call family support is required to meet the demands of unstable work schedules, and instability in work schedules often reproduces a similar instability at home." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Goldin, Claudia & Lawrence F. Katz (2016): Women working longer. Facts and some explanations. (NBER working paper 22607), Cambrige, Mass., 59 S. DOI:10.3386/w22607

Abstract

"American women are working more, through their sixties and even into their seventies. Their increased participation at older ages started in the late 1980s before the turnaround in older men's labor force participation and the economic downturns of the 2000s. The higher labor force participation of older women consists disproportionately of those working at full-time jobs. Increased labor force participation of women in their older ages is part of the general increase in cohort labor force participation. Cohort effects, in turn, are mainly a function of educational advances and greater prior work experience. But labor force participation rates of the most recent cohorts in their forties are less than those for previous cohorts. It would appear that employment at older ages could stagnate or even decrease. But several other factors will be operating in an opposing direction leading us to conclude that women are likely to continue to work even longer." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mas, Alexandre & Amanda Pallais (2016): Valuing alternative work arrangements. (NBER working paper 22708), Cambrige, Mass., 61 S. DOI:10.3386/w22708

Abstract

"We use a field experiment to study how workers value alternative work arrangements. During the application process to staff a national call centre, we randomly offered applicants choices between traditional M-F 9 am - 5 pm office positions and alternatives. These alternatives include flexible scheduling, working from home, and positions that give the employer discretion over scheduling. We randomly varied the wage difference between the traditional option and the alternative, allowing us to estimate the entire distribution of willingness to pay (WTP) for these alternatives. We validate our results using a nationally-representative survey. The great majority of workers are not willing to pay for flexible scheduling relative to a traditional schedule: either the ability to choose the days and times of work or the number of hours they work. However, the average worker is willing to give up 20% of wages to avoid a schedule set by an employer on a week's notice. This largely represents workers' aversion to evening and weekend work, not scheduling unpredictability. Traditional M-F 9 am - 5 pm schedules are preferred by most jobseekers. Despite the fact that the average worker isn't willing to pay for scheduling flexibility, a tail of workers with high WTP allows for sizable compensating differentials. Of the worker-friendly options we test, workers are willing to pay the most (8% of wages) for the option of working from home. Women, particularly those with young children, have higher WTP for work from home and to avoid employer scheduling discretion. They are slightly more likely to be in jobs with these amenities, but the differences are not large enough to explain any wage gaps." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Petrescu-Prahova, Miruna & Michael W. Spiller (2016): Women's wage theft. Explaining gender differences in violations of wage and hour laws. In: Work and occupations, Jg. 43, H. 4, S. 371-400. DOI:10.1177/0730888416661019

Abstract

"In this study, the authors identify and analyze a distinct and understudied source of gender inequality: gender differences in violations of wage-related workplace laws. The authors find that women have significantly higher rates of minimum wage and overtime violations than men and also lose more of their earnings to wage theft than men. In the case of minimum wage violations, the authors also find that nativity and immigration status strongly mediate this gender difference. Multivariate analysis suggests that demand-side characteristics - occupation and measures of nonstandard work and informality - account for more of the gender difference in minimum wage violations than do worker characteristics." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Sweet, Stephen, Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes & Jacquelyn Boone James (2016): Successes in changing flexible work arrangement use. Managers and work-unit variation in a financial services organization. In: Work and occupations, Jg. 43, H. 1, S. 75-109. DOI:10.1177/0730888415595094

Abstract

"This study identifies factors associated with flexible work arrangement (FWA) use in the context of the 'Supervisor-Promoted Flexibility' program implemented by an employer in the financial activities supersector. This change initiative involved supervisor-initiated discussions that explored prospects for supervisee FWA use. Discussions increased the odds of FWA use expansion, but changes occurred at different rates among work units. Managers' gender, age, and attitudes toward FWAs corresponded with changes observed. When managers believed that supervisee FWA use reflected favorably on prospects for their own careers, they were more likely to expand use over time." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Täht, Kadri & Melinda Mills (2016): Out of time. The consequences of non-standard employment schedules for family cohesion. (SpringerBriefs in sociology),: Springer London 126 S. DOI:10.1007/978-94-017-7402-4

Abstract

"This pioneering work aims at understanding the impact of non-standard (evening, night, weekend) working time on family cohesion, meaning parent-child interaction, partnership quality and divorce or partnership dissolution. 'Out of time - the Consequences of Non-standard Employment Schedules for Family Cohesion' is the first work to treat this important topic in a cross-national, comparative way by using data from two large comparable surveys. The impact of work in non-standard schedules on workers can be divided into individual and social consequences. Research so far has shown the clear individual effects of these schedules, such as increased stress levels and sleeping and physical disorders. There is less clarity about social consequences. Either no or positive effects of these types of schedules on workers and their families are found, or a significant negative impact on the relations between the workers and others, especially other members of the family is shown in research results. This Brief compares the Netherlands and the United States of America, countries that both show a high prevalence of non-standard schedule work, whereas both operate in very different institutional and welfare regime settings of working time regulation. By combining both quantitative and qualitative data, the authors are able to provide generalized views of comparative surveys and challenging those generalizations at the same time, thus enabling the reader to get a better understanding and more balanced view of the actual relationship between non-standard employment schedules and family cohesion." (Publisher's text, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Chakraborty, Indraneel, Hans A. Holter & Serhiy Stepanchuk (2015): Marriage stability, taxation and aggregate labor supply in the U.S. vs. Europe. In: Journal of monetary economics, Jg. 72, H. May, S. 1-20. DOI:10.1016/j.jmoneco.2015.01.001

Abstract

"Americans work more than Europeans. Using micro-data from the United States and 17 European countries, we document that women are typically the largest contributors to the cross-country differences in work hours. We also show that there is a negative relation between taxes and annual hours worked, driven by men, and a positive relation between divorce rates and annual hours worked, driven by women. In a calibrated life-cycle model with heterogeneous agents, marriage and divorce, we find that the divorce and tax mechanisms together can explain 45% of the variation in labor supply between the United States and the European countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Golden, Lonnie (2015): FLSA working hours reform. Worker well-being effects in an economic framework. In: Industrial relations, Jg. 54, H. 4, S. 717-749. DOI:10.1111/irel.12111

Abstract

"This article discusses a model developed to predict the effects of recently proposed amendments to the FLSA workweek and overtime provisions. The model contrasts allowing compensatory time for overtime pay for private nonexempt employees to 'rights to request' reduced hours. Hours demanded are likely to rise for workers who request comp time, undermining the intention of family-friendliness and alleviating overemployment, unless accompanied by offsetting policies that would prevent the denied use or forced use of comp time and that resurrect some monetary deterrent effect. A unique survey shows that the preference for time over money and comp time is relatively more prevalent among exempt, long hours and women workers; thus, worker welfare is likely better served if comp time were incorporated into an individualized, employee-initiated right to request." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Haley, M. Ryan & Laurie A. Miller (2015): Correlates of flexible working arrangements, stress, and sleep difficulties in the US workforce. Does the flexibility of the flexibility matter? In: Empirical economics, Jg. 48, H. 4, S. 1395-1418. DOI:10.1007/s00181-014-0836-4

Abstract

"Using the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, we study how two forms of flextime correlate with family stress, workplace stress, and sleep difficulties. The first flextime measure is the ability to easily take time off for personal and family matters, which correlates with a statistically and economically significant reduction in workplace stress. Subsequently, we find that this same flexibility is associated with 6 - 10% reduction in the likelihood of self-reported sleep difficulties for the full sample, and as high as an 11 - 25% reduction in a subgroup analysis concerning unmarried females with children. The second flextime measure is the option of a compressed workweek, which also correlates with a statistically reduction in workplace stress, though the estimate is considerably smaller than for the first flexibility; a subsequent analysis finds no statistically significant relationship between this flexibility and sleep difficulties. Our findings suggest that the more flexible flexibility (i.e., more short-notice schedule flexibility) appears to be associated with larger reductions in the probability of being stressed, enough, in fact, to carry through to noticeable improvements in concomitant sleep difficulties. Thus, the first form of flextime may function, based on this observational analysis, as a tangible non-medical way to meet worker flextime desires and firm aspirations for increased safety and less absenteeism, all while potentially offering a positive public health externality. The size and significance of the flextime results prevail through bias assessments and sensitivity analyses." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Hall, Axel & Gylfi Zoega (2015): Why do Europeans work less than Americans? Public consumption and welfare benefits as a cause of the north-atlantic divide. (CESifo working paper 5264), München, 26 S.

Abstract

"We propose an explanation of why Europeans choose to work fewer hours than Americans and also suffer higher rates of unemployment. Labor market regulations, unemployment benefits, and high levels of public consumption in many European countries reduce, ceteris paribus, the gains from being employed, which makes employed workers ask for higher wages relative to productivity. The higher wages make firms offer fewer vacancies, as well as raising the opportunity cost of working by enabling employed workers to enjoy time-consuming consumption activities. We find empirical support for our thesis." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Elena Stancanelli (2015): Long workweeks and strange hours. In: ILR review, Jg. 68, H. 5, S. 1007-1018. DOI:10.1177/0019793915592375

Abstract

"U.S. workweeks are long compared to workweeks in other rich countries. Much less well-known is that Americans are more likely to work at night and on weekends. The authors examine the relationship between these two phenomena using the American Time Use Survey and time-diary data from France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Only small portions of the U.S. - European differences are attributable to observable characteristics. Adjusting for demographic and occupational differences, Americans' incidence of night and weekend work would drop by no more than 10% if the average European workweek prevailed. Even if no Americans worked long hours, the incidence of unusual work times in the United States would far exceed those in continental Europe." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Jacobs, Anna W. & Irene Padavic (2015): Hours, scheduling and flexibility for women in the US low-wage labour force. In: Gender, Work and Organization, Jg. 22, H. 1, S. 67-86. DOI:10.1111/gwao.12069

Abstract

"Research on women's experiences with work schedules and flexibility tends to focus on professional women in high-paying careers, despite women's far greater prevalence in low-wage jobs. This paper seeks to contribute to our understanding of the work-hours problems faced by women precariously employed in low-wage jobs by addressing how work-on-demand scheduling and other features of part-time labour in the neoliberal economy limit women's ability to make ends meet. Using data from 17 in-depth interviews, we identify four themes -- unpredictable schedules, inadequate hours, time theft and punishment-and-control via hours-reduction -- and the problems they present. Results suggest that much-championed flexible work policies that seek to encourage women's career advancement may have little bearing on the work-hours dilemmas faced by low-wage women workers. We conclude that social change efforts need to encompass work policies geared to low-wage workers, such as guaranteed minimum hours and increases in the minimum wage." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Landivar, Liana Christin (2015): The gender gap in employment hours. Do work-hour regulations matter? In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 29, H. 4, S. 550-570. DOI:10.1177/0950017014568139

Abstract

"In all developed countries, women, especially mothers, work fewer paid hours than their spouses. However, the magnitude of the gender gap varies significantly by country, ranging from 2 to 20 hours per week in this study. Using data from the 2002 International Social Survey Programme, this article investigates whether work-hour regulations have a significant effect on household allocation of paid labour and gender work-hour inequality. Two main types of work-hour regulations are examined: standard weekly work hours and the maximum allowable weekly work hours. Results show that households in countries with shorter maximum weekly work hours had less work-hour inequality between spouses, as each additional allowable overtime hour over the standard working week increased the work-hour gap between couples by 20 minutes. These results indicate that couples' inequality in work hours and gender inequality in labour supply are associated with country-level work-hour regulations." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Berg, Peter, Gerhard Bosch & Jean Charest (2014): Working-time configurations: a framework for analyszing diversity across countries. In: ILR review, Jg. 67, H. 3, S. 805-837. DOI:10.1177/0019793914537452

Abstract

"In this introductory article, we examine working time through the lens of the employment relationship and the interests of various actors. We discuss how the decline in the old standard working-time model has opened the door to greater diversity in working time. As the demands of employers and employees encourage new working-time practices, we find the responses to these demands differ substantially across countries. These differences reflect variations in labor market institutions and diverse power relations between labor and management." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cahill, Kevin E., Michael D. Giandrea & Joseph F. Quinn (2014): The impact of hours flexibility on career employment, bridge jobs, and the timing of retirement. (BLS working paper 472), Washington, DC, 38 S.

Abstract

"To what extent does hours flexibility in career employment impact the retirement process? Workplace flexibility policies have the potential to improve both the welfare of employees and the business outcomes of employers. These policies, and hours flexibility in particular for older Americans, have also been touted as a way to reduce turnover. For older Americans, reductions in turnover could mean more years in career employment, fewer years in bridge employment, and little or no impact on the timing of retirement. Alternatively, hours flexibility in career employment could lead to longer working lives and delayed retirements. The distinction between the two outcomes is important if hours flexibility policies, such as phased retirement, are to be considered an option for alleviating the strains of an aging society. This paper describes how hours flexibility in career employment impacts the retirement patterns of older Americans. We use data on three cohorts of older Americans from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a large nationally-representative dataset that began in 1992. We explore the extent to which hours flexibility arrangements are available and utilized in career employment and explore the extent to which such arrangements impact job transitions later in life. We find that bridge job prevalence is higher among those with access to hours flexibility in career employment compared to those without hours flexibility. Further, while we find mixed evidence that hours flexibility extends time in career employment, we do find that hours flexibility in career employment is associated with longer tenure on bridge jobs. Taken together these results suggest that hours flexibility in career employment is associated with extended work lives, particularly in post-career employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gerstel, Naomi & Dan Clawson (2014): Class advantage and the gender divide. Flexibility on the job and at home. In: American Journal of Sociology, Jg. 120, H. 2, S. 395-431. DOI:10.1086/678270

Abstract

"Using a survey, interviews, and observations, the authors examine inequality in temporal flexibility at home and at work. They focus on four occupations to show that class advantage is deployed in the service of gendered notions of temporal flexibility while class disadvantage makes it difficult to obtain such flexibility. The class advantage of female nurses and male doctors enables them to obtain flexibility in their work hours; they use that flexibility in gendered ways: nurses to prioritize family and physicians to prioritize careers. Female nursing assistants and male emergency medical technicians can obtain little employee-based flexibility and, as a result, have more difficulty meeting conventional gendered expectations. Advantaged occupations 'do gender' in conventional ways while disadvantaged occupations 'undo gender.' These processes operate through organizational rules and cultural schemas that sustain one another but may undermine the gender and class neutrality of family-friendly policies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Elena Stancanelli (2014): Long workweeks and strange hours. (NBER working paper 20449), Cambridge, Mass., 14 S. DOI:10.3386/w20449

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." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Henly, Julia R. & Susan J. Lambert (2014): Unpredictable work timing in retail jobs. Implications for employee work-life conflict. In: ILR review, Jg. 67, H. 3, S. 986-1016. DOI:10.1177/0019793914537458

Abstract

"Unpredictability is a distinctive dimension of working time that has been examined primarily in the context of unplanned overtime and in male-dominated occupations. The authors assess the extent to which female employees in low-skilled retail jobs whose work schedules are unpredictable report greater work -- life conflict than do their counterparts with more predictable work schedules and whether employee input into work schedules reduces work -- life conflict. Data include measures from employee surveys and firm records for a sample of hourly female workers employed across 21 stores of a U.S. women's apparel retailer. Results demonstrate that, independent of other dimensions of nonstandard work hours, unpredictability is positively associated with three outcomes: general work -- life conflict, time-based conflict, and strain-based conflict as measured by perceived employee stress. Employee input into work schedules is negatively related to these outcomes. Little evidence was found that schedule input moderates the association between unpredictable working time and work -- life conflict." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Kelly, Erin L., Phyllis Moen, J. Michael Oakes, Wen Fan, Cassandra Okechukwu, Kelly D. Davis, Leslie B. Hammer, Ellen Ernst Kossek, Rosalind Berkowitz King, Ginger C. Hanson, Frank Mierzwa & Lynne M. Casperi (2014): Changing work and work-family conflict. Evidence from the work, family, and health network. In: American Sociological Review, Jg. 79, H. 3, S. 485-516. DOI:10.1177/0003122414531435

Abstract

"Schedule control and supervisor support for family and personal life may help employees manage the work-family interface. Existing data and research designs, however, have made it difficult to conclusively identify the effects of these work resources. This analysis utilizes a group-randomized trial in which some units in an information technology workplace were randomly assigned to participate in an initiative, called STAR, that targeted work practices, interactions, and expectations by (1) training supervisors on the value of demonstrating support for employees' personal lives and (2) prompting employees to reconsider when and where they work. We find statistically significant, although modest, improvements in employees' work-family conflict and family time adequacy, and larger changes in schedule control and supervisor support for family and personal life. We find no evidence that this intervention increased work hours or perceived job demands, as might have happened with increased permeability of work across time and space. Subgroup analyses suggest the intervention brought greater benefits to employees more vulnerable to work-family conflict. This study uses a rigorous design to investigate deliberate organizational changes and their effects on work resources and the work-family interface, advancing our understanding of the impact of social structures on individual lives." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mercan, Murat Anil (2014): A research note on the relationship between long working hours and weight gain for older workers in the United States. In: Research on Aging, Jg. 36, H. 5, S. 557-567. DOI:10.1177/0164027513510324

Abstract

"Working long hours may be related to obesity in older adults. No studies have focused on older workers and long work hours, although the risk of obesity is high among this population group. This study is the first attempt to investigate the relationship between obesity and the older workforce. Panel data from the Health and Retirement Study are examined using Cox regression techniques. We found that older workers who work more than 59 hr a week are more likely to gain weight than older workers who work less than 59 hr per week." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Nikolova, Milena & Carol Graham (2014): Employment, late-life work, retirement, and well-being in Europe and the United States. In: IZA journal of European Labor Studies, Jg. 3, S. 1-30. DOI:10.1186/2193-9012-3-5

Abstract

"Flexible work arrangements and retirement options provide one solution for the challenges of unemployment and underemployment, aging populations, and unsustainable public pension systems in welfare states around the world. We examine the relationships between well-being and job satisfaction on the one hand and employment status and retirement, on the other, using Gallup World Poll data for several European countries and the United States. We find that voluntary part-time workers are happier, experience less stress and anger, and have higher job satisfaction than other employees. Using statistical matching, we show that late-life workers under voluntary part-time or full-time arrangements have higher well-being than retirees. There is no well-being premium for involuntary late-life work and self-employment compared to retirement, however. Our findings inform ongoing debates about the optimal retirement age and the fiscal burdens of public pension systems." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Perlow, Leslie A. & Erin L. Kelly (2014): Toward a model of work redesign for better work and better life. In: Work and occupations, Jg. 41, H. 1, S. 111-134. DOI:10.1177/0730888413516473

Abstract

"Flexible work accommodations provided by employers purport to help individuals struggling to manage work and family demands. The underlying model for change is accommodation -- helping individuals accommodate their work demands with no changes in the structure of work or cultural expectations of ideal workers. The purpose of this article is to derive a Work Redesign Model and compare it with the Accommodation Model. This article centers around two change initiatives -- Predictability, Teaming and Open Communication and Results Only Work Environment -- that alter the structure and culture of work in ways that enable better work and better lives." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Reynold, Jeremy E. (2014): Prevailing preferences: actual work hours and work-hour preferences of partners. In: ILR review, Jg. 67, H. 3, S. 1017-1041. DOI:10.1177/0019793914537459

Abstract

"Studies of paid work hours have overlooked preferences partners have with respect to each other's hours. The author uses the National Survey of Families and Households to examine how closely partners agree and the number of hours each should work. He also examines the extent to which actual hours reflect both partners' preferences and factors that moderate the efficacy of each partner's wishes. The analysis offers important new insights into work hours, work-hour constraints, and the negotiation of work hours between partners. The results indicate that partners often disagree about the number of hours each should work, and that although men's hours reflect their own and their partner's preferences equally, women's hours are more closely tied to their own preferences. Still, changes in men's and women's actual hours are heavily influenced by factors that do not reflect their own or their partner's preferences." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ammons, Samantha K. (2013): Work-family boundary strategies. Stability and alignment between preferred and enacted boundaries. In: Journal of vocational behavior, Jg. 82, H. 1, S. 49-58. DOI:10.1016/j.jvb.2012.11.002

Abstract

"Are individuals bounding work and family the way they would like? Much of the work-family boundary literature focuses on whether employees are segmenting or integrating work with family, but does not explore the boundariesworkerswould like to have, nor does it examine the fit between desired and enacted boundaries, or assess boundary stability. In this study, 23 respondents employed at a large Fortune 500 company were interviewed about their work-family boundaries before and after their teams underwent a cultural change initiative that sought to loosen workplace norms and allow employees more autonomy to decide when and where they performed their job tasks. Four distinct boundary strategies emerged from the data, with men and parents of young children having better alignment between preferred and enacted boundaries than women and thosewithout these caregiving duties. Implications for boundary theory and research are discussed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bell, David N. F. & Alasdair C. Rutherford (2013): Older workers and working time. (IZA discussion paper 7546), Bonn, 26 S.

Abstract

"Contrary to much of the established literature, this paper finds that though many older workers would prefer to reduce their working hours (the overemployed), there is a significant group who would like to work longer hours (the underemployed). And contrary to the assumption that the self-employed are more easily able than employees to select a desired combination of hours and the wage rate, this paper finds that older self-employed workers are more likely to wish to adjust their hours, both upward and downward than are employees. A new index of underemployment is used to show that for the UK, since the onset of the Great Recession, underemployment among older workers has been growing more rapidly than unemployment. Using longitudinal data from the UK Labour Force Survey, the paper investigates the effects of overemployment and underemployment on transitions from employment and self-employment into other labour market states. It confirms that overemployment is a significant predictor of retirement among employees while underemployed employees are less likely to retire." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bell, David N. F. & David G. Blanchflower (2013): How to measure underemployment? (Working paper / Peterson Institute for International Economics 2013-07), Washington, DC, 30 S.

Abstract

"One of the factors that may inhibit reductions in unemployment as the economy recovers is the extent to which existing workers would like to work more hours and employers may prefer to let them work longer hours before making new hires. This phenomenon suggests that the unemployment rate does not capture the full extent of excess capacity in the labor market. But how should it be measured? In this paper we argue that the United States does not have the necessary statistical tools to calibrate this form of underemployment. We describe an index that captures the joint effects of unemployment and underemployment and provides a more complete picture of labor market excess capacity. We show how this index can be implemented using British data and describe its evolution over the Great Recession. Comparisons of our index with unemployment rates suggest that unemployment rates understate differences in labor market excess capacity by age group and overstate differences by gender. We also show that being unable to work the hours that one desires has a negative effect on well-being. Finally, we recommend that the Current Population Survey conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics might be extended to enable the construction of an equivalent US index." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Bloom, Nicholas, James Liang, John Roberts & Zhichun Jenny Ying (2013): Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment. (CEP discussion paper 1194), London, 46 S.

Abstract

"About 10% of US employees now regularly work from home (WFH), but there are concerns this can lead to 'shirking from home.' We report the results of a WFH experiment at CTrip, a 16,000-employee, NASDAQ-listed Chinese travel agency. Call center employees who volunteered to WFH were randomly assigned to work from home or in the office for 9 months. Home working led to a 13% performance increase, of which about 9% was from working more minutes per shift (fewer breaks and sick-days) and 4% from more calls per minute (attributed to a quieter working environment). Home workers also reported improved work satisfaction and experienced less turnover, but their promotion rate conditional on performance fell. Due to the success of the experiment, CTrip rolled-out the option to WFH to the whole firm and allowed the experimental employees to re-select between the home or office. Interestingly, over half of them switched, which led to the gains from WFH almost doubling to 22%. This highlights the benefits of learning and selection effects when adopting modern management practices like WFH." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Gicheva, Dora (2013): Working long hours and early career outcomes in the high-end labor market. In: Journal of labor economics, Jg. 31, H. 4, S. 785-824. DOI:10.1086/669971

Abstract

"This study establishes empirically a positive but nonlinear relationship between weekly hours and hourly wage growth. For workers who put in over 47 hours per week, 5 extra hours are associated with a 1% increase in annual wage growth. This correlation is not present when hours are lower. The relationship is especially strong for young professionals. Data on promotions provide evidence in support of a job-ladder model that combines higher skill sensitivity of output in higher-level jobs with heterogeneous preferences for leisure. The results can be used to account for part of the gender wage gap." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Jaimovich, Nir, Seth Pruitt & Henry E. Siu (2013): The demand for youth. Explaining age differences in the volatility of hours. In: The American Economic Review, Jg. 103, H. 7, S. 3022-3044. DOI:10.1257/aer.103.7.3022

Abstract

"Over the business cycle young workers experience much greater volatility of hours worked than prime-aged workers. This can arise from age differences in labor supply or labor demand characteristics. To distinguish between these, we document that, for young workers, both the cyclical volatilities of hours and wages are greater than those of the prime-aged. We argue that a general class of models featuring only age-specific labor supply differences cannot reconcile these facts. We then show that a simple model featuring labor demand differences can." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Neumann, Todd C., Jason E. Taylor & Price Fishback (2013): Comparisons of weekly hours over the past century and the importance of work-sharing policies in the 1930s. In: The American Economic Review. Papers and Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, Jg. 103, H. 3, S. 105-110. DOI:10.1257/aer.103.3.105

Abstract

"Changes in the work week drove a larger portion of changes in total labor input during the Great Depression of the 1930s than during other decades. Work-sharing policies appear to be responsible. Herbert Hoover created various work-sharing committees - led by key industrialists - which pushed for shorter work weeks. And Franklin Roosevelt's President's Reemployment Agreement called for sharp cuts in weekly work hours. Spreading available work amongst more people was the goal. During these periods between 50 and 90 percent of declines in labor input were accommodated by falling hours. In recent decades employers have instead relied on layoffs to achieve the same end." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ruppanner, Leah (2013): Conflict between work and family: An investigation of four policy measures. In: Social indicators research, Jg. 110, H. 1, S. 327-347. DOI:10.1007/s11205-011-9929-z

Abstract

"Welfare states enact a range of policies aimed at reducing work-family conflict. While welfare state policies have been assessed at the macro-level and work-family conflict at the individual-level, few studies have simultaneously addressed these relationships in a cross-national multi-level model. This study addresses this void by assessing the relationship between work-family and family-work conflict and family-friendly policies in 10 countries. Applying a unique multi-level data set that couples country-level policy data with individual-level data (N=7,895) from the 2002 International Social Survey Programme, the author analyzes the relationship between work-family and family-work conflict and four specific policy measures: family leave, work scheduling, school scheduling, and early childhood education and care. The results demonstrate that mothers and fathers report less family-work and mothers less work-family conflict in countries with more expansive family leave policies. Also, in countries with longer school schedules mothers report less and women without children more work-family conflict." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Zhu, Pengyu (2013): Telecommuting, household commute and location choice. In: Urban studies, Jg. 50, H. 12, S. 2441-2459. DOI:10.1177/0042098012474520

Abstract

"Previous empirical studies have made contributions to the understanding of the impact of telecommuting on individual travel patterns. There has been much less research that has examined the impact of telecommuting on commute travel at the household level. Using data from the 2001 and 2009 US National Household Travel Surveys, this study focuses on one-worker and two-worker households and investigates how telecommuting affects household one-way commute distance and duration. The results show that telecommuting increases the commute distance and duration for both one-worker households and two-worker households. It is also found that, in two-worker households, the telecommuting status of one worker does not increase the commute distance and duration of the other worker. These findings suggest that telecommuting (two-worker) households tend to choose locations involving a longer total one-way commute than non-telecommuting households, and this difference is largely due to the longer commute of their telecommuting members." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Budig, Michelle J., Joya Misra & Irene Boeckmann (2012): The motherhood penalty in cross-national perspective. The importance of work-family policies and cultural attitudes. In: Social Politics, Jg. 19, H. 2, S. 163-193. DOI:10.1093/sp/jxs006

Abstract

"Mothers' employment and earnings partly depend on social policies and cultural norms supporting women's paid and unpaid work. Previous research suggests that work-family policies are deeply shaped by their cultural context. We examine country variation in the associations between motherhood and earnings, in cultural attitudes surrounding women's employment, and in childcare and parental leave policies. We model how cultural attitudes moderate the impact of policies on women's earnings across countries. Parental leaves and public childcare are associated with higher earnings for mothers when cultural support for maternal employment is high, but have less positive or even negative relationships with earnings where cultural attitudes support the male breadwinner/female caregiver model." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Burda, Michael C., Daniel S. Hamermesh & Jay Stewart (2012): Cyclical variation in labor hours and productivity using the ATUS. (IZA discussion paper 7070), Bonn, 15 S.

Abstract

"We examine monthly variation in weekly work hours using data for 2003-10 from the Current Population Survey (CPS) on hours/worker, from the Current Employment Survey (CES) on hours/job, and from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) on both. The ATUS data minimize recall difficulties and constrain hours of work to accord with total available time. The ATUS hours/worker are less cyclical than the CPS series, but the hours/job are more cyclical than the CES series. We present alternative estimates of productivity based on ATUS data and find that it is more pro-cyclical than other productivity measures." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Luis A. Gil-Alana (2012): Persistence and cycles in US hours worked. (DIW-Diskussionspapiere 1200), Berlin, 26 S.

Abstract

"This paper analyses monthly hours worked in the US over the sample period 1939m1 - 2011m10 using a cyclical long memory model; this is based on Gegenbauer processes and characterised by autocorrelations decaying to zero cyclically and at a hyperbolic rate along with a spectral density that is unbounded at a non-zero frequency. The reason for choosing this specification is that the periodogram of the hours worked series has a peak at a frequency away from zero. The empirical results confirm that this model works extremely well for hours worked, and it is then employed to analyse their relationship with technology shocks. It is found that hours worked increase on impact in response to a technology shock (though the effect dies away rapidly), consistently with Real Business Cycle (RBC) models." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dugan, Alicia G., Russell A. Matthews & Janet L. Barnes-Farrell (2012): Understanding the roles of subjective and objective aspects of time in the work-family interface. In: Community, work & family, Jg. 15, H. 2, S. 149-172. DOI:10.1080/13668803.2011.609656

Abstract

"The experience of time has been posited as an important predictor of work-family conflict; however, few studies have considered subjective and objective aspects of time conjointly. This study examined the reported number of hours dedicated to work and family as indices of objective aspects of time, and perceived time pressure (in the work and family domains respectively) as an important feature of the subjective nature of temporal experiences within the work-family interface. Results indicate that the stress of having insufficient time to fulfill commitments in one domain (i.e., perceived time pressure) predicts work-family conflict, and that perceived time pressures predict the amount of time allocated to a domain. Additionally, findings suggest that domain boundaries are not symmetrical, with work boundaries being more rigidly constructed than family boundaries. Work-to-family and family-to-work conflict were generally related to overall health, turnover intentions, and work performance, as expected." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Guner, Nezih, Remzi Kaygusuz & Gustavo Ventura (2012): Taxation and household labour supply. In: The Review of Economic Studies, Jg. 79, H. 3, S. 1113-1149. DOI:10.1093/restud/rdr049

Abstract

"We evaluate reforms to the U.S. tax system in a life cycle set-up with heterogeneous married and single households and with an operative extensive margin in labour supply. We restrict our model with observations on gender and skill premia, labour-force participation of married females across skill groups, children, and the structure of marital sorting. We concentrate on two revenue-neutral tax reforms: a proportional income tax and a reform in which married individuals file taxes separately (separate filing). Our findings indicate that tax reforms are accompanied by large increases in labour supply that differ across demographic groups, with the bulk of the increase coming from married females. Under a proportional income tax reform, married females account for more than 50% of the changes in hours across steady states, while under separate filing reform, married females account for all the change in hours." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lambert, Susan J., Anna Haley-Lock & Julia R. Henly (2012): Schedule flexibility in hourly jobs. Unanticipated consequences and promising directions. In: Community, work & family, Jg. 15, H. 3, S. 293-315. DOI:10.1080/13668803.2012.662803

Abstract

"This article considers the challenge of extending conventional models of flexibility to hourly jobs that are often structured quite differently than the salaried, professional positions for which flexibility options were originally designed. We argue that the assumptions of job rigidity and overwork motivating existing flexibility options may not be broadly applicable across jobs in the US labor market. We focus specifically on two types of flexibility: (1) working reduced hours and (2) varying work timing. We first review central aspects of the US business and policy contexts that inspire our concerns, and then draw on original analyses from US census data and several examples from our comparative case-study research to explain how conventional flexibility options do not always map well onto hourly jobs, and in certain instances may disadvantage workers by undermining their ability to earn an adequate living. We conclude with a discussion of alternative approaches to implementing flexibility in hourly jobs when hours are scarce and fluctuating rather than long and rigid." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lyness, Karen S., Janet C. Gornick, Pamela Stone & Angela R. Grotto (2012): It's all about control: worker control over schedule and hours in cross-national context. In: American Sociological Review, Jg. 77, H. 6, S. 1023-1049. DOI:10.1177/0003122412465331

Abstract

"Workers' ability to control their work schedules and hours varies significantly among industrialized countries. We integrate and extend prior research from a variety of literatures to examine antecedents of control and worker outcomes. Using hierarchical linear modeling and data for 21 countries from the 1997 ISSP Work Orientations Survey supplemented with national indicators developed from a variety of sources, we find that control is associated with country characteristics (affluence, welfare state generosity, union coverage, and working-time regulations), worker attributes (being male, being older, and being better educated), and job characteristics (working part-time, being self-employed, having higher earnings, and having more advancement opportunities). We also examine the relationship of control to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and strain-based work-family conflict. Generally, low levels of control are linked to negative outcomes for workers, especially for women, an effect sometimes modulated by country-level policy measures." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Maume, David J. & Rachel A. Sebastian (2012): Gender, nonstandard work schedules, and marital quality. In: Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Jg. 33, H. 4, S. 477-490. DOI:10.1007/s10834-012-9308-1

Abstract

"Relatively few studies have focused on the effects of working late and rotating shifts on marital dynamics. This study addressed the limitations of prior studies by sampling from a sector of the economy (i.e., grocery and drug store workers) where shift work and rotating schedules were common, and by controlling for numerous accompanying disruptive effects of shift work on marital quality. Results show that working late shifts reduces marital quality among men, whereas among women, job-family spillover explained away marital quality effects of working rotating schedules. These results suggest that more than men, women remain largely responsible for family life irrespective of work schedules, yet further research on how family lives are affected by work schedules is needed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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McNamara, Tay K., Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Melissa Brown & Christina Matz-Costa (2012): Access to and utilization of flexible work options. In: Industrial relations, Jg. 51, H. 4, S. 936-965. DOI:10.1111/j.1468-232X.2012.00703.x

Abstract

"Many workers do not utilize the flexible work options to which they have access nor do they necessarily have access to all options officially provided by their organizations. This study sheds light on these gaps using probit models with sample selection to predict access to and utilization of fourteen flexible options. The findings highlight the roles of supervisor support, occupation, and work-life culture. The influence of each of these factors on access and utilization differs." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Michelacci, Claudio & Josep Pijoan-Mas (2012): Intertemporal labour supply with search frictions. In: The Review of Economic Studies, Jg. 79, H. 3, S. 899-931. DOI:10.1093/restud/rdr042

Abstract

"Starting in the 1970's, wage inequality and the number of hours worked by employed U.S. prime-age male workers have both increased. We argue that these two facts are related. We use a labour market model with on-the-job search where by working longer hours individuals acquire greater skills. Since job candidates are ranked by productivity, greater skills not only increase worker's productivity in the current job but also help the worker to obtain better jobs. When job offers become more dispersed, wage inequality increases and workers work longer hours to obtain better jobs. As a result, average hours per worker in the economy increase. This mechanism accounts for around two-thirds of the increase in hours observed in data. Part of the increase is inefficient since workers obtain better jobs at the expense of other workers competing for the same jobs." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Minnotte, Krista Lynn (2012): Family structure, gender, and the work-family interface. Work-to-family conflict among single and partnered parents. In: Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Jg. 33, H. 1, S. 95-107. DOI:10.1007/s10834-011-9261-4

Abstract

"This study examined whether single parents experience greater reductions in work-to-family conflict from using resources than partnered parents do. The question of whether single mothers, single fathers, partnered mothers, or partnered fathers experienced differing levels of work-to-family conflict was also addressed. Data were from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce, and only those respondents with at least one child under the age of 18 living in the household were included in the analysis (N=1325). Findings indicated that single-parent status was not directly related to work-to-family conflict. Rather single-parent status interacted with other variables, including gender, control over work hours, and the number of other adults in the home, in predicting work-to-family conflict." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Noonan, Mary C. & Jennifer L. Glass (2012): The hard truth about telecommuting. In: Monthly labor review, Jg. 135, H. 6, S. 38-45.

Abstract

"Telecommuting has not permeated the American workplace, and where it has become commonly used, it is not helpful in reducing work-family conflicts; telecommuting appears, instead, to have become instrumental in the general expansion of work hours, facilitating workers' needs for additional worktime beyond the standard workweek and/or the ability of employers to increase or intensify work demands among their salaried employees." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ohanian, Lee E. & Andrea Raffo (2012): Aggregate hours worked in OECD countries. New measurement and implications for business cycles. In: Journal of monetary economics, Jg. 59, H. 1, S. 40-56. DOI:10.1016/j.jmoneco.2011.11.005

Abstract

"We build a dataset of quarterly hours worked for 14 OECD countries. We document that hours are as volatile as output, that a large fraction of labor adjustment takes place along the intensive margin, and that the volatility of hours relative to output has increased over time. We use these data to reassess the Great Recession and prior recessions. The Great Recession in many countries is a puzzle in that labor wedges are small, while those in the U.S. Great Recession - and those in previous European recessions - are much larger." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Ruppanner, Leah & Joy E. Pixley (2012): Work-to-family and family-to-work spillover: the implications of childcare policy and maximum work-hour legislation. In: Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Jg. 33, H. 3, S. 283-297. DOI:10.1007/s10834-012-9303-6

Abstract

"This paper addresses the relationship between individual-level work-to-family and family-to-work spillover and two country-level policy measures: childcare policy and maximum work hour legislation. Coupling Gornick and Meyers' (Families that work: policies for reconciling parenthood and employment, 2003) policy measures with individual-level data (N=7,895) from the 2002 International Social Survey Programme, the authors analyze whether men and women in countries with stronger childcare policies and maximum work-hour legislation exhibit work-to-family and family-to-work spillover. The authors find that neither childcare policy nor maximum work-hour legislation is significantly associated with work-to-family spillover. Stronger childcare policy is associated with lower family-to-work spillover for women, especially for women with young children. Maximum-hour legislation is associated with greater family-to-work spillover for women, with a significantly larger effect for mothers of young children." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Shockley, Kristen M. & Tammy D. Allen (2012): Motives for flexible work arrangement use. In: Community, work & family, Jg. 15, H. 2, S. 217-231. DOI:10.1080/13668803.2011.609661

Abstract

"This study investigated employees' motives for using two types of flexible work arrangements (FWA), flextime and flexplace. Using a sample of workers with high job flexibility (university academics), we examined both the prevalence of different motives (life management and work-related) and how these motives vary according to several individual differences (gender, family responsibility, marital status, and work-nonwork segmentation preferences). Overall, results indicated that employees are more driven to use FWA by work-related motives than by life management motives. Those with greater family responsibilities and those married/living with a partner were more likely to endorse life management motives, whereas individuals with greater segmentation preferences were more motivated to use FWA by work-related motives. Findings regarding gender were contrary to expectations based on traditional gender roles, as there were no gender differences in life management motives but women more highly endorsed work-related motives than did men. The main implications of the findings are that individuals recognize FWA as not only a work-family policy, but also as a potential means to increase productivity. Individual differences relate to why workers use available flexible policies. Additional theoretical and practical implications are discussed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Tuttle, Robert & Michael Garr (2012): Shift work and work to family fit: Does schedule control matter? In: Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Jg. 33, H. 3, S. 261-271. DOI:10.1007/s10834-012-9283-6

Abstract

"We used the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce to investigate the effects of shift work on individuals. We investigated if shift workers would have poorer work to family fit than workers with regular day schedules or flexible schedules. We also investigated if control of work schedule would moderate the possible negative effects of shift work. Results indicate that shift work is associated with increased work to family conflict, especially for women. In addition, the results indicate that women have greater work to family conflict compared to men when workers have more work schedule control. Implications of the findings are discussed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Zhu, Pengyu (2012): Are telecommuting and personal travel complements or substitutes? In: The annals of regional science, Jg. 48, H. 2, S. 619-639. DOI:10.1007/s00168-011-0460-6

Abstract

"Whether telecommuting and personal travel are complements or substitutes is a key question in urban policy analysis. Urban planners and policy makers have been proposing telecommuting as part of travel demand management (TDM) programs to reduce congestion. Based on small samples, several empirical studies have found that telecommuting has a substitution effect (although small) on commute travel, and have thus argued that policies promoting telecommuting might be promising in reducing travel. Using data from the 2001 and 2009 National Household Travel Surveys (NHTS), this study involves two large national samples to try to more accurately identify the impact of telecommuting on workers' travel patterns. Through a series of empirical tests, this research investigates how telecommuting influences workers' one-way commute trips, daily total work trips, and daily non-work trips, and tries to provide some answers to a question that has been discussed for some years -- namely, whether telecommuting and personal travel are complements or substitutes. The results of these tests suggest that telecommuting has been an important factor in shaping personal travel patterns over the 2001 - 2009 period, and that telecommuting indeed has a complementary effect on not just workers' one-way commute trips, but also their daily total work trips, and total non-work trips." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Blundell, Richard, Antoine Bozio & Guy Laroque (2011): Labor supply and the extensive margin. In: The American Economic Review. Papers and Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, Jg. 101, H. 3, S. 482-486. DOI:10.1257/aer.101.3.482

Abstract

"In this paper we propose a systematic way of examining the importance of the extensive and the intensive margins of labor supply in order to explain the overall movements in total hours of work over time. We show how informative bounds can be developed on each of these margins. We apply this analysis to the evolution of hours of work in the US, the UK, and France and show that both the extensive and intensive margins matter in explaining changes in total hours." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Blundell, Richard, Antoine Bozio & Guy Laroque (2011): Extensive and intensive margins of labour supply. Working hours in the US, UK and France. (IZA discussion paper 6051), Bonn, 35 S.

Abstract

"This paper documents the key stylised facts underlying the evolution of labour supply at the extensive and intensive margins in the last forty years in three countries: United-States, United-Kingdom and France. We develop a statistical decomposition that provides bounds on changes at the extensive and intensive margins. This decomposition is also shown to be coherent with the analysis of labour supply elasticities at these margins. We use detailed representative micro-datasets to examine the relative importance of the extensive and intensive margins in explaining the overall changes in total hours worked." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Dembe, Allard E. (2011): Factors shaping the development of working time regulation in the United States. In: International Labour Review, Jg. 150, H. 3-4, S. 419-429. DOI:10.1111/j.1564-913X.2011.00126.x

Abstract

"In nineteenth century Britain, the first working time regulations were prompted by humanitarian concerns about women and children employed in factories. In the United States, working time laws were initially introduced in response to union activism and labour unrest. During the twentieth century, policy-makers enacted statutes that shortened hours of work in an attempt to spread available work and thereby curb unemployment. The past 20 years, with the adoption of the European Working Time Directive, have reflected a movement towards social and political integration, continuing political pressure to curb unemployment, and growing acceptance of ergonomics and work organization as components of international safety regulation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Donnelly, Rory (2011): The organization of working time in the knowledge economy. An insight into the working time patterns of consultants in the UK and the USA. In: British Journal of Industrial Relations, Jg. 49, H. s1, S. s93-s114. DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8543.2010.00826.x

Abstract

"The development of the knowledge economy is creating new and diverse working time patterns. This study uses survey and qualitative interview data from consultants operating as organizational employees, as well as those acting as freelance contractors to explore the organization of working time among knowledge workers in the UK and the USA. The findings reveal how these forms of employment and national context shape and produce complex nuances in the working patterns and experiences of these important highly skilled workers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Johnson, Richard W. (2011): Phased retirement and workplace flexibility for older adults. Opportunities and challenges. In: The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Jg. 638, H. 1, S. 68-85. DOI:10.1177/0002716211413542

Abstract

"Phased retirement programs that allow older workers to reduce their hours and responsibilities and pursue more flexible work schedules could satisfy both the employee's desire for flexibility and the employer's need to maintain an experienced workforce. However, few employers have established formal programs, because they often complicate the provision of other benefits and might violate antidiscrimination rules. For example, federal laws limit retirement plan distributions to employees who are still working for the plan sponsor, which discourages phased retirement because few older workers can afford to reduce their work hours unless they can receive at least some retirement benefits. Many employers do not provide fringe benefits to part-time employees, and making exceptions for older workers could violate antidiscrimination rules. Federal laws requiring that benefits provided through tax-qualified plans be evenly distributed between highly compensated and lower-paid employees also complicate formal phased retirement programs. Reforming these policies could promote phased retirement." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Presser, Harriet B. & Brian W. Ward (2011): Nonstandard work schedules over the life course. A first look. In: Monthly Labor Review, Jg. 134, H. 7, S. 3-16.

Abstract

Auf der Basis von Langzeituntersuchungen des US-Arbeitsministeriums zwischen 1979 und 2004 wird das Ausmaß der nicht-normalen Arbeitszeiten bei US-Bürgern ausgewertet. Dabei werden alle Tätigkeiten, die nicht in die Normalarbeitszeit zwischen 8 Uhr und 17 Uhr fallen, einbezogen. Es ergibt sich, dass die 1979 befragten Arbeitnehmer zwanzig Jahre später zu mehr als 90 Prozent zumindest zeitweise untypische Arbeitszeiten erlebt haben. Die Einzelergebnisse werden nach Geschlecht, Ethnizität und Bildungsgrad aufgeschlüsselt. (IAB)