Productivity development and the role of working time accounts during the 2008/2009 recession : evidence from the IAB Establishment Panel

Abstract

"Between 2008 and 2009 Germany was hit by the most severe economic shock since the Great Depression in 1929. In contrast to other countries subject to the economic downturn, the labor market situation in Germany remained relaxed. In Autumn 2009 Paul Krugman called this phenomenon 'Germany's Jobs Miracle'. Intuitively the only possible explanation is massive labor hoarding at the plant level. However, there is scarce empirical evidence of this especially at the micro- (plant) level. The same holds for the very common hypothesis that the high degree of working time flexibility, realized particularly through the wide-spread use of working time accounts, helped plants to establish their labor-hoarding strategies. The aim of this study is to contribute to filling this gap. Based on the IAB Establishment Panel clear evidence can be found of labor hording within plants hit by the economic crisis. However, no differences could be detected with respect to the extent of labor hoarding between plants with and plants without working time accounts." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Gerner, H. (2012): Die Produktivitätsentwicklung und die Rolle von Arbeitszeitkonten während der Großen Rezession 2008/2009. Ergebnisse auf der Grundlage des IAB Betriebspanels. In: Zeitschrift für Personalforschung, Vol. 26, No. 1, p. 30-47. DOI:10.1688/1862-0000_ZfP_2012_01_Gerner