IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v9y2022i1d10.1057_s41599-022-01480-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the promoting effect of working time reduction on life satisfaction using Germany as a case study

Author

Listed:
  • Qinglong Shao

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

Abstract

Worktime reduction’s effect on life satisfaction is an important issue but one that has not been fully studied. This article fills this gap and uses an ordered probit model to analyse the working time reduction impact on life satisfaction in Germany by using the European Social Survey data, the mediating effect of health and cross-partner effect are also explored. A significantly negative correlation between working time and life satisfaction are revealed, showing that a short working week can improve Germans’ life satisfaction. Health is confirmed to be the important intermediate variable in the ‘worktime–health–life satisfaction’ nexus and about 28% of the satisfaction among German people is due to the change in health explained by working hours. Further, we find that high-earners prefer to work long hours whereas low-earners tend to work less; middle-earners show no personal preferences. Cross-partner effects are confirmed, as a male’s short working week can satisfy their partner, while a female’s long working hours can improve their partner’s life satisfaction. In light of this, working hours should be restricted to avoid unsatisfaction induced by overtime work and overtime compensation regulations should be strictly implemented, policy-makers also need to take gender differences into consideration.

Suggested Citation

  • Qinglong Shao, 2022. "Exploring the promoting effect of working time reduction on life satisfaction using Germany as a case study," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:9:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-022-01480-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-022-01480-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-022-01480-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-022-01480-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rafael Di Tella & Robert J. MacCulloch & Andrew J. Oswald, 2003. "The Macroeconomics of Happiness," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 809-827, November.
    2. Hamermesh, Daniel S., 2020. "Lockdowns, Loneliness and Life Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 13140, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Alesina, Alberto & Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2004. "Inequality and happiness: are Europeans and Americans different?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2009-2042, August.
    4. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2000. "Economics and Identity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 715-753.
    5. Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Vinod Mishra, 2017. "Trust, Social Networks and Subjective Wellbeing in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 313-339, May.
    6. AlisonL. Booth & JanC. vanOurs, 2008. "Job Satisfaction and Family Happiness: The Part-Time Work Puzzle," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(526), pages 77-99, February.
    7. Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2012. "The Relationship Between Social Leisure and Life Satisfaction: Causality and Policy Implications," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 453-490, September.
    8. Easterlin, Richard A., 2006. "Life cycle happiness and its sources: Intersections of psychology, economics, and demography," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 463-482, August.
    9. Litchfield, Julie & Reilly, Barry & Veneziani, Mario, 2012. "An analysis of life satisfaction in Albania: An heteroscedastic ordered probit model approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 731-741.
    10. Maitra, Chandana & Rao, D.S. Prasada, 2015. "Poverty–Food Security Nexus: Evidence from a Survey of Urban Slum Dwellers in Kolkata," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 308-325.
    11. Alison L. Booth & Jan C. Van Ours, 2009. "Hours of Work and Gender Identity: Does Part‐time Work Make the Family Happier?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(301), pages 176-196, February.
    12. Golden, Lonnie & Wiens-Tuers, Barbara, 2006. "To your happiness? Extra hours of labor supply and worker well-being," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 382-397, April.
    13. Masanori Kuroki, 2013. "Crime Victimization and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Happiness Data," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 783-794, June.
    14. Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, 2011. "Europeans Work to Live and Americans Live to Work (Who is Happy to Work More: Americans or Europeans?)," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 225-243, April.
    15. Rose Nabi Deborah Karimi Muthuri & Flavia Senkubuge & Charles Hongoro, 2020. "Determinants of happiness among healthcare professionals between 2009 and 2019: a systematic review," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, December.
    16. Matthew Gray & Lixia Qu, 2004. "Long work hours and the wellbeing of fathers and their families," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 7(2), pages 255-273, June.
    17. Ruta Clair & Maya Gordon & Matthew Kroon & Carolyn Reilly, 2021. "The effects of social isolation on well-being and life satisfaction during pandemic," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-6, December.
    18. Easterlin, Richard A, 2001. "Income and Happiness: Towards an Unified Theory," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(473), pages 465-484, July.
    19. Knabe, Andreas & Rätzel, Steffen, 2010. "Income, happiness, and the disutility of labour," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(1), pages 77-79, April.
    20. Ed Diener & Robert Biswas-Diener, 2002. "Will Money Increase Subjective Well-Being?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 119-169, February.
    21. Mo, Pak Hung, 2001. "Corruption and Economic Growth," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 66-79, March.
    22. Pedersen, Peder J. & Schmidt, Torben Dall, 2011. "Happiness in Europe," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 480-489.
    23. Kumar, Surender & Shetty, Shivananda, 2018. "Corporate Participation in Voluntary Environmental Programs in India: Determinants and Deterrence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 1-10.
    24. repec:dgr:kubcen:200769 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Pouwels, Babette & Siegers, Jacques & Vlasblom, Jan Dirk, 2008. "Income, working hours, and happiness," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 72-74, April.
    26. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    27. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2020. "Life satisfaction, loneliness and togetherness, with an application to Covid-19 lock-downs," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 983-1000, December.
    28. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    29. Thomas Bolli & Filippo Pusterla, 2022. "Decomposing the effects of digitalization on workers’ job satisfaction," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(2), pages 263-300, June.
    30. Alberto Alesina & Edward Glaeser & Bruce Sacerdote, 2006. "Work and Leisure in the United States and Europe: Why So Different?," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2005, Volume 20, pages 1-100, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    31. Robert Rudolf, 2014. "Work Shorter, Be Happier? Longitudinal Evidence from the Korean Five-Day Working Policy," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1139-1163, October.
    32. Haiyang Lu & Peishan Tong & Rong Zhu, 2020. "Longitudinal Evidence on Social Trust and Happiness in China: Causal Effects and Mechanisms," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1841-1858, June.
    33. Pullinger, Martin, 2014. "Working time reduction policy in a sustainable economy: Criteria and options for its design," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 11-19.
    34. Ed Diener & Ed Sandvik & Larry Seidlitz & Marissa Diener, 1993. "The relationship between income and subjective well-being: Relative or absolute?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 195-223, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hua Pang & Qinglong Shao, 2023. "Unpacking the Potential Influence of Life Satisfaction on Network Heterogeneity, Emotional Exhaustion and Mobile App Fatigue: A Stressor–Strain–Outcome Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Shao, Qinglong & Kostka, Genia, 2023. "The COVID-19 pandemic and deepening digital inequalities in China," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert Rudolf, 2014. "Work Shorter, Be Happier? Longitudinal Evidence from the Korean Five-Day Working Policy," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1139-1163, October.
    2. Rubia R. Valente & Brian J. L. Berry, 2017. "Acculturation of Immigrant Latinos into the U.S. Workplace: Evidence from the Working Hours-life Satisfaction Relationship," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 451-479, June.
    3. David G. Blanchflower & Carol L. Graham, 2022. "The Mid-Life Dip in Well-Being: a Critique," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 287-344, May.
    4. Yamamura, Eiji, 2012. "Influence of age of child on differences in life satisfaction of males and females: Comparative study among East Asian countries," MPRA Paper 35770, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Collewet, Marion & de Grip, Andries & de Koning, Jaap, 2017. "Conspicuous work: Peer working time, labour supply, and happiness," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 79-90.
    6. Nandi, Alita & L. Bryan, Mark, 2015. "Working hours, work identity and subjective wellbeing," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-21, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    7. AMENDOLA, Adalgiso & DELL'ANNO, Roberto & PARISI, Lavinia, 2015. "Happiness, Inequality and Relative Concerns in European Countries," CELPE Discussion Papers 136, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    8. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2006. "Income and happiness: Evidence, explanations and economic implications," PSE Working Papers halshs-00590436, HAL.
    9. Popova, Olga, 2014. "Can religion insure against aggregate shocks to happiness? The case of transition countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 804-818.
    10. Antje Mertens & Miriam Beblo, 2016. "Self-Reported Satisfaction and the Economic Crisis of 2007–2010: Or How People in the UK and Germany Perceive a Severe Cyclical Downturn," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 537-565, January.
    11. Peter H van Der Meer & Rudi Wielers, 2011. "What makes workers happy?," Post-Print hal-00734530, HAL.
    12. Robert Rudolf & Sung-Jin Kang, 2015. "Lags and Leads in Life Satisfaction in Korea: When Gender Matters," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 136-163, January.
    13. Lepinteur, Anthony & Flèche, Sarah & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2016. "My Baby Takes the Morning Train: Gender Identity, Fairness, and Relative Labor Supply Within Households," IZA Discussion Papers 10382, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Collewet, M.M.F. & de Grip, A. & Koning, J.d., 2015. "Peer working time, labour supply, and happiness for male workers," ROA Research Memorandum 006, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    15. Bruno S. Frey & Anthony Gullo, 2021. "Does Sports Make People Happier, or Do Happy People More Sports?," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(4), pages 432-458, May.
    16. Alison Booth & Jan Ours, 2013. "Part-time jobs: what women want?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(1), pages 263-283, January.
    17. Tsegay Gebrekidan Tekleselassie, 2017. "Subjective Wellbeing and Institutions: The Case of Rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 016, Policy Studies Institute.
    18. BARTOLINI Stefano & SARRACINO Francesco, 2011. "Happy for How Long? How Social Capital and GDP relate to Happiness over Time," LISER Working Paper Series 2011-60, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    19. Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Georgellis, Yannis & Tsitsianis, Nicholas & Yin, Ya Ping, 2009. "Income and happiness across Europe: Do reference values matter?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 42-51, February.
    20. Chang Wen-Chun, 2008. "Toward Independence or Unification?," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 13(2), pages 124-153, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:9:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-022-01480-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.