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Dolado, Juan J., Etienne Lalé & Helene Turone (2022): Zero-hours Contracts in a Frictional Labour Market. (Discussion Paper / University of Bristol, Department of Economics 22/763), Bristol, 50 S.

Abstract

"We propose a model to evaluate the U.K.'s zero-hours contract (ZHC)- a contract that exempts employers from the requirement to provide any minimum working hours, and allows workers to decline any workload. We find quantitatively mixed welfare effects of ZHCs. On one hand they unlock job creation among firms that face highly volatile business conditions and increase labor force participation of individuals who prefer flexible work schedules. On the other hand, the use of ZHCs by less volatile firms, where jobs are otherwise viable under regular contracts, reduces welfare and likely explains negative employee reactions to this contract." (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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Garnero, Andrea, Alessandro Tondini & Cyprien Batut (2022): The employment effects of working time reductions in Europe. (VoxEU columns / Centre for Economic Policy Research), London, 8 S.

Abstract

"The implementation of shorter working hours is intended to create jobs by redistributing available work. But this is based on the assumption that there is a fixed amount of work to be done. This column studies the work-hour reforms in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, and Slovenia in the late 1990s and early 2000s under the EU Working Time Directive. The reforms did reduce the hours worked per employee, but firms did not substitute lower hours for more workers. Since employee salaries did not go down, a shorter working week or day could potentially increase wellbeing." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Hijzen, Alexander & Andrea Salvatori (2022): The impact of the COVID-19 crisis across different socio-economic groups and the role of job retention schemes - The case of Switzerland. (OECD social, employment and migration working papers 268), Paris, 39 S. DOI:10.1787/38fc6bad-en

Abstract

"This paper analyses the impact of the COVID-19 crisis across socio-economic groups in Switzerland and the role played by its short-time work scheme during the first year of the crisis until the end of 2020. To this end, it compares changes in hours worked for different socio-groups in Switzerland and other OECD countries, and then documents differences across groups in the use of short time work and in the risk of job loss. Finally, the paper investigates differences between groups of short-time work participants in terms of the reduction in working time, job search behavior and the risk of subsequent job loss. The evidence so far suggests that the Swiss short time work scheme as it operated during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis was fit for purpose." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Koch, Max (2022): Social Policy Without Growth. Moving Towards Sustainable Welfare States. In: Social Policy and Society, Jg. 21, H. 3, S. 447-459. DOI:10.1017/S1474746421000361

Abstract

"Growth-dependent welfare states contribute to climate emergency. The ecological economics, degrowth, and sustainable welfare literatures demonstrate that to re-embed Western production and consumption patterns in environmental limits, an encompassing social-ecological transformation would need to be initiated very soon. This article focuses on the potential roles of the welfare state and social policy in this transformation, applying the concepts of ‘sustainable welfare’ and ‘safe-operating space’. Based on two Swedish studies, it also provides an empirical analysis of the popularity of selected eco-social policies designed to steer the economy and society towards this space: maximum and basic incomes, taxes on wealth and meat, as well as working time reductions. In analogy to the historical role of the state in reconstituting the welfare-work nexus in the post-WWII era and its present engagement in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, it is argued that a more interventionist state is required to grapple with climate emergency." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Labanca, Claudio & Dario Pozzoli (2022): Constraints on Hours within the Firm. In: Journal of labor economics, Jg. 40, H. 2, S. 473-503. DOI:10.1086/714827

Abstract

"Firms often impose constraints on working hours. While many believe that these constraints shape labor supply decisions, little evidence exists to support such views. We explore this relationship using linked employer-employee data on hours worked and the variation in tax rates derived from the 2010 Danish tax reform. We show that hours worked are unresponsive to individual tax changes in firms with strict constraints, whereas they respond to these changes, directly and through spillovers, in firms with looser constraints. Starting from these findings, we discuss the determinants of hours constraints, distinguishing between firms’ technologies and coordination of hours among coworkers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Mader, Katharina (2022): Das Familienarbeitszeit-Modell – ein erster Schritt Richtung Arbeitszeitverkürzung. In: WISO, Jg. 45, H. 1, S. 29-41.

Abstract

"Der Beitrag plädiert für eine allgemeine Arbeitszeitverkürzung mit dem Ziel: weniger Zeit für Erwerbsarbeit und mehr Zeit für andere Formen von Arbeit und Tätigkeiten. Es wird gezeigt, dass die Verkürzung der Arbeitszeit zur Bewältigung neuer Anforderungen an die Lebensführung notwendig ist. Sie wird durch einen Umbruch in der Nutzung von Arbeitskraft ermöglicht, fördert dessen gesellschaftliche Durchsetzung und erweist sich damit als Wegbereiter für ein neues gesellschaftliches Sozialmodell." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, © ISW-Linz)

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Myllyntausta, Saana, Marianna Virtanen, Jaana Pentti, Mika Kivimäki, Jussi Vahtera & Sari Stenholm (2022): Why do men extend their employment beyond pensionable age more often than women? a cohort study. In: European Journal of Ageing, Jg. 19, H. 3, S. 599-608. DOI:10.1007/s10433-021-00663-1

Abstract

"Men extend their employment beyond pensionable age more often than women, but the factors that contribute to this sex difference are unknown. This study aimed to examine sex differences in extending employment and the contribution of sociodemographic, work- and health-related factors to these differences. Participants of this prospective cohort study were 4,263 public sector employees from Finland who reached their individual pensionable date between 2014 and 2019 and responded to a survey on work- and non-work-related issues before that date. Extended employment was defined as continuing working for over six months beyond the individual pensionable date. We used mediation analysis to examine the contribution of explanatory factors to the association between sex and extended employment. Of the participants, 29% extended employment beyond the pensionable date. Men had a 1.29-fold (95% confidence interval 1.11–1.49) higher probability of extending employment compared with women. Men had a higher prevalence of factors that increase the likelihood of extended employment than women (such as spouse working full-time, no part-time retirement, low job strain, high work time control, and lack of pain) and this mediated the association of sex with extended employment by up to 83%. In conclusion, men were more likely to extend their employment beyond pensionable age than women. This difference was largely explained by men being more likely to have a full-time working spouse, low job strain, high work time control, no pain, and not being on part-time retirement." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Raiber, Klara, Ellen Verbakel & Mark Visser (2022): Helping helpers? The role of monetary transfers in combining unpaid care and paid work. In: International Journal of Care and Caring, Jg. 6, H. 4, S. 621-637. DOI:10.1332/239788221X16535005914874

Abstract

"Applying fixed-effects models using Waves 2 to 13 (2007–19) of the German Labour Market and Social Security panel study, we examine how unpaid caring changes labour supply and if monthly monetary transfers from the care recipient to the carer motivate a reduction in labour supply. We find that for both women and men, starting high-intensity caring increased the likelihood of becoming non-employed. Women were already likely to reduce working hours when starting non-intensive caring, whereas only intensive caring reduced working hours for men. Receiving low monetary transfers was a higher motivation to become non-employed for men, and receiving low monetary transfers only reduced working hours for women." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Teichgräber, Julian, Simon Žužek & Jannik Hensel (2022): Optimal short-time work: screening for jobs at risk. (Working paper / University of Zurich, Department of Economics 402), Zürich: Department of Economics - University of Zurich, 45 S.

Abstract

"Short-time work - a wage subsidy conditional on hour reductions - has become an important tool of labor market policy in many European countries. As the scope of these policies expanded, concerns about side effects due to adverse selection increased. We develop a model of job retention policies in the presence of asymmetric information to study selection into these programs. The social planner wants to prevent excessive job destruction but cannot observe which jobs are truly at risk. We do not restrict the social planner to use hour reductions a priori. Instead, we show that hour reductions of short-time work policies act as a screening mechanism to mitigate the adverse selection problem. This perspective of short-time work as a policy response to an underlying adverse selection problem provides an entirely new rationale for these policies. Our approach can be used to revisit recent empirical findings which rely on employment effects to evaluate existing short-time work schemes. In our model, however, average employment effects across groups are not sufficient to determine whether the policy is efficient. Indeed, we show that an optimal short-time work policy cannot avoid a small degree of adverse selection. This is particularly important in light of recent evidence that firms with small revenue shocks and no discernible employment effects have participated in short-time work programs at large costs to the public. In our model, these costs are information rents which are required to screen for jobs at risk. We calibrate our model to German data before the financial crisis and find that the optimal short-time work policy would have reduced separations by 1.2 - 2.4 percentage points." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Virtanen, Marianna, Saana Myllyntausta, Maarit Kauppi, Mika Kivimäki, Jaana Pentti, Jenni Ervasti, K. C. Prakash, Jussi Vahtera & Sari Stenholm (2022): Trajectories of Worktime Control From Midlife to Retirement and Working Beyond Retirement Age. In: Work, Aging and Retirement, Jg. 8, H. 3, S. 273-281. DOI:10.1093/workar/waab023

Abstract

"The extent to which long-term individual-oriented flexibility in working hours is associated with working beyond retirement age is not known. The aims of the present study were to identify trajectories of worktime control (WTC) and to examine whether the membership of WTC trajectories was associated with working beyond individual’s pensionable age. A total of 1,953 older employees participated in the study and had data up to 16 years before pensionable age. Group-based latent trajectory modeling was used to identify WTC trajectories and Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to examine the associations of WTC trajectories with duration of employment. Seven trajectories described WTC: “Stable very low” (7%), “Stable low” (21%), “Declined” (12%), “Stable mid-low” (28%), “Improved” (10%), “Stable high” (16%), and “Stable very high” (5%). When compared with the lowest WTC trajectory groups, trajectories of “Stable high/very high” (hazard ratio [HR] 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17–1.54) and “Improved” WTC (HR 1.49, 95% CI 1.25–1.78) were associated with longer duration of employment. Although the memberships of the “Stable high/very high” and “Improved” WTC trajectories correlated with gender, marital status, occupational position, and self-rated health, the association between WTC and duration of employment was not fully confounded or mediated by these factors. These findings support the hypothesis that having improved or constantly high control over working times from midlife to retirement age may prolong working lives at retirement age." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Wikström, Ewa, Karin Allard, Rebecka Arman, Roy Liff, Daniel Seldén & Roland Kadefors (2022): Organisational Capability for Delayed Retirement. In: H. F. Erhag, U. L. Nilsson, T. R. Sterner & I. Skoog (Hrsg.) (2022): ¬A¬ Multidisciplinary Approach to Capability in Age and Ageing, S. 221-232. DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-78063-0_16

Abstract

"Throughout the industrialised world, societies are ageing. These demographic changes have created a political and societal focus on an extended working life. Unfortunately, there is a lack of systematic knowledge about how such changes can be successfully implemented within organisations. In this chapter, we discuss this lacuna and specifically focus on organisational capability. We highlight workplace conditions and practices that may inhibit or promote the retention of workers beyond the previous norm for retirement. The novelty of an organisational capability approach is that it highlights workplace conditions that enable older people to use their abilities to perform acts of value and to achieve a better quality of life and greater participation in society. Workplace resources, capabilities and functions form a dynamic pattern. Factors that influence the work abilities of older workers are related in complex interactions and not merely in the format of simple cause and effect. When looking at retirement from the perspective of older workers, we have focused on aspects such as the individual’s ability to control the retirement process. Central to Sen’s idea is that individuals have different conversion factors, which means that, even though two individuals may have access to the same resources, they do not necessarily have the capability to enjoy the same functions. For example, the probability that an older person will remain employed will partially depend on his or her health, human capital and type of job. But two seemingly similar individuals can nevertheless have very different chances of remaining employed because their employer has implemented very different age management policies, or simply because they have different attitudes towards older workers. Since organisational capability makes it possible to focus on the interaction between the individual’s resources and preferences and the opportunity structure existing at the workplace (meso level) and embodied in the retirement system (macro level), much of the discussion and many of the policies and practices concerning older people can be related to the concept of capabilities." (Author's abstract, © Springer) ((en))

Abstract

"Working Time and Work-Life Balance Around the World provides a comprehensive review of both main aspects of working time – working hours and working time arrangements (also called work schedules) – and their effects on workers' work-life balance. The report reviews hours of work from several different perspectives, highlighting that, globally, over one-third of all workers are regularly working more than 48 hours per week, while a fifth of the global workforce is at the opposite end of the spectrum working short (part-time) hours less than 35 per week. It also analyses actual hours of work compared with workers' preferred number of hours, finding that, in particular, working longer hours than desired has negative effects on workers' reported work-life balance. Finally, the report provides an overview of working time-related crisis response measures deployed by governments and enterprises during COVID-19 pandemic, such as work sharing or short-time work and home-based telework, which helped to keep organizations functioning and workers employed. This global report concludes by summarizing the key findings of the entire report, which suggest the need to promote reduced hours of work and offer flexible working time arrangements, such as flexitime and telework, more widely; these types of policies would help to improve work-life balance and thereby benefit both workers and employers." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Anelli, Massimo & Felix Koenig (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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Astleithner, Franz & Bettina Stadler (2021): Möglichkeiten der Arbeitszeitverkürzung: Beispiele aus der Praxis. In: WISO, Jg. 44, H. 3, S. 53-80.

Abstract

"Arbeitszeitverkürzung ist nach Jahrzehnten mangelnder Aufmerksamkeit wieder stärker ins Zentrum des politischen Diskurses gerückt. In unserem Beitrag zeichnen wir die Argumente für eine Arbeitszeitverkürzung nach und diskutieren, wie in der betrieblichen Praxis kürzere Arbeitszeiten entstehen können. Anschließend stellen wir arbeitszeitpolitische Innovationen aus anderen Ländern vor. Damit entsteht eine Orientierungshilfe für die Ausgestaltung progressiver Arbeitszeitpolitik." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku, © ISW-Linz)

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Backhaus, Nils, Louisa-Katharina Stein & Ines Entgelmeier (2021): Arbeitszeiterfassung und Flexibilität - Ergebnisse der BAuA-Arbeitszeitbefragung 2019. (baua: Fokus), Dortmund, 21 S. DOI:10.21934/baua:fokus20211001

Abstract

"Im Mai 2019 hat der EuGH die Mitgliedstaaten dazu aufgefordert, Arbeitgeber zu verpflichten, ein "objektives, verlässliches und zugängliches System zur Arbeitszeiterfassung" einzurichten, das die tägliche Arbeitszeit, die Zahl der tatsächlich geleisteten Arbeitsstunden (inklusive Überstunden) und ihre zeitliche Verteilung misst. Aus der Perspektive des Arbeitsschutzes ist die Erfassung der Arbeitszeit zudem wichtig, um Expositionszeiten nachzuhalten, zeitliche Entgrenzung (insbesondere Überstunden und Mehrarbeit) zu vermeiden und Erholung zu gewährleisten. Während Kritiker einer Arbeitszeiterfassung Einschränkung der Flexibilität für Beschäftigte anführen, zeigen die Ergebnisse der BAuA-Arbeitszeitbefragung 2019, dass eine Erfassung der Arbeitszeit, insbesondere bei der Arbeit von zuhause, nicht nur mit weniger zeitlicher Entgrenzung, sondern auch mit mehr Flexibilität für Beschäftigte einhergeht." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Carreño Bustos, José & Burak Uras (2021): Macro-Welfare Effects of Flexible-Hour Contracts. (CentER discussion paper 2021-30), Tilburg, 45 S.

Abstract

"Motivated with the rise of flex-hour labour contracts in advanced economies, we develop a DSGE model and study the macroeconomic welfare effects of flex-hour contracts for a small open economy in a currency union. The framework exhibits two sectors: a fixed (rigid) sector and a flex sector. The fixed sector offers rigid contracts in terms of hours and wages while the flex sector offers flex contracts in both dimensions. We find that the flex sector has a welfare-enhancing role in accommodating short-term shocks in the economy if the fixed sector’s hour adjustment exhibits a high degree of rigidity. We also show that the wage flexibility in the fixed sector has a general equilibrium interaction with hours-work in the flex sector, inducing wage flexibility in the fixed sector to be relatively more desirable compared to an economy without a flex sector. Our results thus have important policy implications for a wide range of countries in European-Monetary-Union - characterized by large flex sectors." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Cook, Rose, Margaret O'Brien, Sara Connolly, Matthew Aldrich & Svetlana Speight (2021): Fathers' Perceptions of the Availability of Flexible Working Arrangements: Evidence from the UK. In: Work, Employment and Society, Jg. 35, H. 6, S. 1014-1033. DOI:10.1177/0950017020946687

Abstract

"A conditional right to request flexible working arrangements (FWAs) has existed for most UK employee parents since 2003. However, there are growing concerns about access, particularly among fathers. Using nationally representative data from the 2015 UK Household Longitudinal Survey, this article examines fathers? perceptions of the availability of hours reduction, schedule flexibility and working from home. Results show that almost one-third of fathers believe that FWAs that reduce working hours are unavailable to them, compared with one-tenth of mothers. There are no gender differences in perceptions of availability of schedule and location flexibility. Among fathers, those with lower education levels, in lower status occupations, working in the private sector and in workplaces that do not have trade union presence are more likely to believe that FWAs are unavailable. Therefore, even though most employees now have the right to request FWAs, a significant minority of fathers do not perceive FWAs to be available to them." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Dudel, Christian, Elke Loichinger, Sebastian Klüsener, Harun Sulak & Mikko Myrskylä (2021): The extension of late working life in Germany: trends, inequalities, and the East-West divide. (MPIDR working paper / Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research 2021-018), Rostock, 33 S. DOI:10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2021-018

Abstract

"The extension of late working life has been proposed as a potential remedy for the challenges of aging societies. For Germany, surprisingly little is known about trends and social inequalities in the length of late working life. Here, we use data from the German Microcensus to estimate working life expectancy from age 55 onwards for the 1941-1955 birth cohorts. We adjust our calculations of working life expectancy for working hours, and present results for western and eastern Germany by gender, education, and occupation. While working life expectancy has increased across cohorts, we find strong regional and socioeconomic disparities. Decomposition analyses show that among males, socioeconomic differences are predominantly driven by variation in employment rates; whereas among women, variation in working hours is also highly relevant. Older eastern German women have longer working lives than older western German women, which is likely attributable to the GDR legacy of high female employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Figerl, Jürgen, Dennis Tamesberger & Simon Theurl (2021): Umverteilung von Arbeit(-szeit): Eine (Netto)Kostenschätzung für ein staatlich gefördertes Arbeitszeitverkürzungsmodell. In: Momentum Quarterly, Jg. 10, H. 1, S. 3-19. DOI:10.15203/momentumquarterly.vol10.no1.p3-19

Abstract

"Dieser Beitrag skizziert ein konkretes staatlich gefördertes Arbeitszeitverkürzungs-Modell, das in der Lage ist Arbeitslosigkeit zu senken. Die Vollarbeitszeit kann hier um bis zu 20 Prozent reduziert werden. Wenn vier Beschäftigte im Betrieb reduzieren, muss eine zuvor arbeitslose Person eingestellt werden. Das Unternehmen zahlt die gesamten Lohnkosten für die geleistete Arbeitszeit. Im Gegensatz zum Solidaritätsprämienmodell ist bei diesem Vorschlag die Arbeitszeitverkürzungsbeihilfe (Bruttoersatzraten von 100/95/90 Prozent) wesentlich höher, was wichtig ist, damit sich die Arbeitnehmer*innen mit geringem Einkommen eine Arbeitszeitverkürzung leisten können. Die Nettokosten für die Arbeitszeitverkürzungs-Förderung für 200.000 Beschäftigte und für die Integration von 50.000 Arbeitslosen würden je nach Höhe der Einkommen der geförderten Beschäftigten zwischen Nettomehreinnahmen von 151 Mio. Euro bis zu Nettomehrausgaben für den Staat von rund 1 Mrd. Euro liegen. Dieses Modell kann ein Teil eines vollbeschäftigungsorientierten Policy-Mix sein, der die betriebliche Experimentierfreudigkeit fördert und Wirkungen entfaltet, die gesamtgesellschaftlich bedeutend sind." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)