The standard literature on working time has modelled the decisions of firms in a deterministic framework in which firms can choose between employment and overtime (given mandated standard hours). Contrary to this approach, we follow the real options approach, which allows us to investigate the...

Estimating returns to hours worked and the employment rate provides us with an original interpretation of changes in US productivity and other industrialized countries' catch-up with US productivity levels over recent decades.

In this paper we describe the hypothesis of effort-based career opportunities as a situation in which profit maximizing firms create incentives for employees to work longer hours than the bargained ones, by making career prospects dependent on working hours. When effort-based career...

In this paper it is asked whether it is meaningful to state a ‘right to work’ as a basic human right to be written down in the constitution, for example, whether working time should generally be reduced, and whether those who do not have (or find) a job should get a guaranteed minimal...

In Deutschland liegen die von abhängig Beschäftigten gewünschten Wochenarbeitszeiten im Durchschnitt zwischen knapp 30 Stunden (Frauen) und 40 Stunden (Männer). Sehr lange Wochenarbeitszeiten sind weder für eine Mehrheit von Frauen noch für Männer attraktiv; diesen Befund findet man auch...

Die durchschnittlichen Arbeitszeiten haben sich für Frauen und Männer seit der deutschen Vereinigung unterschiedlich entwickelt. Dies hat verschiedene Ursachen: Frauen sind immer häufiger erwerbstätig, Teilzeitarbeit und geringfügige Beschäftigung wird immer häufiger ausgeübt und die...

The standard literature on working time has modelled the decisions of firms in a deterministic framework in which firms can choose between employment and overtime (given mandated standard hours). Contrary to this approach, we consider the impact of uncertainty and real options on the decision of...

Hourly labour productivity levels in a number of European countries are thought to be very close to, or possibly even higher than the level 'observed' in the United States. At the same time, however, there are big differentials between hours worked and/or employment rates in these countries and...

We study the emplyment and distributional effects of regulating (reducing) working time in a general equilibrium model with search-matching frictions. Job creation entails some fixed costs, but existing jobs are subject to diminishing returns. We characterize the equilibrium in the de-regulated...

The aim of the present paper is to investigate the linkage between education and working hours, assumed to be positive as suggested by econometric evidence (Coleman and Pencavel (1993), Costa (1998) and Card (1999)), by using a model à la Acemoglu (1994, 1996) with a labour market characterised...