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Can working hour reduction save workers?

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  • Lee, Jungmin
  • Lee, Yong-Kwan

Abstract

Long working hours are considered as one of the major risk factors for workplace accidents and workers' health. In this paper, we estimate the causal effect of working hours on industrial injury rates. We exploit a quasi-natural experiment in South Korea, where standard hours were reduced at different times by industry and establishment size from 2004 to 2011. We find that a one-hour reduction in weekly working hours significantly decreases the injury rate by about 8%.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Jungmin & Lee, Yong-Kwan, 2016. "Can working hour reduction save workers?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 25-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:40:y:2016:i:c:p:25-36
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2016.02.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robert Stewart Smith, 1979. "The Impact of OSHA Inspections on Manufacturing Injury Rates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 14(2), pages 145-170.
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    5. KAWAGUCHI Daiji & NAITO Hisahiro & YOKOYAMA Izumi, 2008. "Labor Market Responses to Legal Work Hour Reduction: Evidence from Japan," ESRI Discussion paper series 202, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    6. Marianna Virtanen & Stephen A Stansfeld & Rebecca Fuhrer & Jane E Ferrie & Mika Kivimäki, 2012. "Overtime Work as a Predictor of Major Depressive Episode: A 5-Year Follow-Up of the Whitehall II Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(1), pages 1-5, January.
    7. Jungmin Lee & Daiji Kawaguchi & Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2012. "Aggregate Impacts of a Gift of Time," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 612-616, May.
    8. Rosen, Sherwin, 1974. "Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Product Differentiation in Pure Competition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(1), pages 34-55, Jan.-Feb..
    9. W. Kip Viscusi, 1979. "The Impact of Occupational Safety and Health Regulation," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 117-140, Spring.
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    11. David P. McCaffrey, 1983. "An Assessment of Osha's Recent Effects on Injury Rates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 18(1), pages 131-146.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Collewet, Marion & Sauermann, Jan, 2017. "Working hours and productivity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 96-106.
    2. Bratberg, Espen & Holmås, Tor Helge & Monstad, Karin, 2017. "The causal effect of workload on the labour supply of older employees," Working Papers in Economics 16/17, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    3. Xiangcheng Meng & Alan H. S. Chan, 2022. "Cross-Regional Research in Demographic Impact on Safety Consciousness and Safety Citizenship Behavior of Construction Workers: A Comparative Study between Mainland China and Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Stéphane Carcillo & Alexander Hijzen & Stefan Thewissen, 2024. "The limitations of overtime limits to reduce long working hours: Evidence from the 2018 to 2021 working time reform in Korea," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 98-126, March.
    5. Park, Yoonsoo & Park, Wooram, 2017. "The Impact of a Workweek Reduction on Labor Productivity," KDI Policy Forum 267, Korea Development Institute (KDI).
    6. Terhi Ravaska, 2023. "Do reduced working hours for older workers have health consequences and prolong work careers?," Working Papers 6, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
    7. Hyunbae Chun & Jungmin Lee & Donghan Shin, 2024. "Does the Minimum Wage Affect Non-wage Workers?," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 40, pages 5-47.
    8. Charles C. Brown & Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2019. "Wages and Hours Laws: What Do We Know? What Can Be Done?," NBER Working Papers 25942, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Ravaska, Terhi, 2023. "Do reduced working hours for older workers have health consequences and prolong work careers?," Working Papers 153, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    10. Laura LAMOLLA & Conxita FOLGUERA‐I‐BELLMUNT & Xavier FERNÁNDEZ‐I‐MARÍN, 2021. "Working‐time preferences among women: Challenging assumptions on underemployment, work centrality and work–life balance," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(3), pages 431-451, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Working hours; Standard hour reduction; Workplace safety; Injury rate; Death rate; Difference-in-differences instrumental variable (DD-IV) estimation method;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J8 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health

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