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Working hours and productivity

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  • Collewet, Marion
  • Sauermann, Jan

Abstract

This paper studies the link between working hours and productivity using daily information on working hours and performance of a sample of call centre agents. We exploit variation in the number of hours worked by the same employee across days and weeks due to central scheduling, enabling us to estimate the effect of working hours on productivity. We find that as the number of hours worked increases, the average handling time for a call increases, meaning that agents become less productive. This result suggests that fatigue can play an important role, even in jobs with mostly part-time workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Collewet, Marion & Sauermann, Jan, 2017. "Working hours and productivity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 96-106.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:47:y:2017:i:c:p:96-106
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2017.03.006
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    1. Bank holidays & productivity
      by chris in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2017-04-23 17:07:12

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    Cited by:

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    6. Clemens, Marco & Sauermann, Jan, 2024. "Making the Right Call: The Heterogeneous Effects of Individual Performance Pay on Productivity," IZA Discussion Papers 17119, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Dora Gicheva, 2020. "Occupational Social Value and Returns to Long Hours," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(347), pages 682-712, July.
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    9. Jos L. T. Blanc & Alex A. S. van Heezik & Bas Blank, 2023. "Productivity and efficiency of central government departments: a mixed-effect model applied to Dutch data in the period 2012-2019," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 47(3), pages 335-351.
    10. Seng-Su Tsang & Zhih-Lin Liu & Thi Vinh Tran Nguyen, 2023. "Family–work conflict and work-from-home productivity: do work engagement and self-efficacy mediate?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    11. Eko Hariyadi Budiyanto & Raja Oloan Saut Gurning & Trika Pitana, 2021. "The Application of Business Impact Analysis Due to Electricity Disruption in a Container Terminal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, October.
    12. Edoardo Beretta & Aurelio F. Bariviera & Marco Desogus & Costanza Naguib & Sergio Rossi, 2024. "Productivity and Keynes’s 15-Hour Work Week Prediction for 2030: An Alternative, Macroeconomic Analysis for the United States," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-30, July.
    13. Rebecca Allen & Asma Benhenda & John Jerrim & Sam Sims, 2020. "New evidence on teachers' working hours in England. An empirical analysis of four datasets," CEPEO Working Paper Series 20-02, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Jan 2020.
    14. Elacqua, Gregory & Marotta, Luana, 2020. "Is working one job better than many? Assessing the impact of multiple school jobs on teacher performance in Rio de Janeiro," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. MORIKAWA Masayuki, 2018. "Uncertainty over Working Schedules and Compensating Wage Differentials: From the viewpoint of labor management," Discussion papers 18015, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    16. Françoise Delmez & Vincent Vandenberghe, 2017. "Working long hours: less productive but less costly? Firm-level evidence from Belgium," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2017022, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    17. Adrian Chadi, 2017. "There Is No Place like Work: Evidence on Health and Labor Market Behavior from Changing Weather Conditions," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201709, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    18. Juliana Abagsonema Abane & Ronald Adamtey & Virceta Owusu Ayim, 2022. "Does organizational culture influence employee productivity at the local level? A test of Denison's culture model in Ghana’s local government sector," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Asai, Kentaro & Lopes, Marta C. & Tondini, Alessandro, 2024. "Firm-Level Effects of Reductions in Working Hours," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 2405, CEPREMAP.
    20. Sum Lo Simon Ming, 2023. "Desired work-leisure balance in a partial equilibrium job search model with multiple job holding," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-43, December.
    21. Taehyun Ahn, 2022. "Workweek reduction and women's job turnover: Evidence from labor legislation in South Korea," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(4), pages 1607-1625, October.
    22. Padang Wicaksono & Yulial Hikmah & Rayinda Nur Ilmiawani, 2023. "Productivity and Global Value Chains: A Tale from the Indonesian Automobile Sector," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-12, October.
    23. Violeta Cvetkoska & Milanka Dimovska, 2021. "What Will Be The Productivity Of Employees With Shorter Work Hours?," International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), Computer Science Journals (CSC Journals), vol. 12(4), pages 139-162, August.
    24. Hart, Robert A., 2019. "Labor Productivity during the Great Depression in UK Manufacturing," IZA Discussion Papers 12379, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    25. Marta C.Lopes & Alessandro Tondini, 2022. "Firm-Level Effects of Reductions in Working Hours," FBK-IRVAPP Working Papers 2022-05, Research Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies (IRVAPP), Bruno Kessler Foundation.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Working hours; Productivity; Output; Labour demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

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