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Contesting Time: International Comparisons of Employee Control of Working Time

Author

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  • Peter Berg
  • Eileen Appelbaum
  • Tom Bailey
  • Arne L. Kalleberg

Abstract

The authors hypothesize that three broad factors affect the degree of workers' control over the timing and the total hours of their work: the institutional and regulatory environment within the country, labor market conditions, and management and labor union strategies. Drawing from their interviews in 2000 with managers, public sector policy-makers and administrators, and union leaders, as well as from previous literature, they illustrate how these factors actually affected working time and employee control over working time in the United States, Australia, Japan, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Their comparative analysis shows that in some countries, employers and labor unions negotiated contracts that increased employee control over working time and provided employers with greater flexibility; in others, employee control over working time remained unevenly distributed across the occupational spectrum.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Berg & Eileen Appelbaum & Tom Bailey & Arne L. Kalleberg, 2004. "Contesting Time: International Comparisons of Employee Control of Working Time," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 57(3), pages 331-349, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:57:y:2004:i:3:p:331-349
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390405700301
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen & Jackman, Richard, 2005. "Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199279173, December.
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    4. Steve Nickell & Jan van Ours, 2000. "The Netherlands and the United Kingdom: a European unemployment miracle?," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 15(30), pages 136-180.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Peter Frase & Janet Gornick, 2009. "The Time Divide in Cross-National Perspective: The Work Week, Gender and Education in 17 Countries," LIS Working papers 526, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    2. Lutz Bellmann & Olaf Hübler, 2015. "Working time accounts and firm performance in Germany," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Lei Delsen & Jeroen Smits, 2010. "Does the Life Course Savings Scheme Have the Potential to Improve Work–Life Balance?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(3), pages 583-604, September.
    4. Pastor, Rafael & Olivella, Jordi, 2008. "Selecting and adapting weekly work schedules with working time accounts: A case of a retail clothing chain," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 184(1), pages 1-12, January.
    5. Dragoș Adăscăliței & Jason Heyes & Pedro Mendonça, 2022. "The intensification of work in Europe: A multilevel analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 324-347, June.
    6. Takahashi, Ana Maria, 2016. "Job stress in Japanese academia: The role of relative income, time allocation by task, and children," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 12-17.
    7. Drago, Robert & Black, David & Wooden, Mark, 2005. "The Existence and Persistence of Long Work Hours," IZA Discussion Papers 1720, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Robert Drago & David Black & Mark Wooden, 2005. "The Persistence of Long Work Hours," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2005n12, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    9. Fagan, Colette. & Norman, Helen. & Smith, Mark. & Gonzalez Menendez, María C., 2014. "In search of good quality part-time employment," ILO Working Papers 994839683402676, International Labour Organization.
    10. White-Means, Shelley I. & Osmani, Ahmad Reshad, 2019. "Job Market Prospects of Breast vs. Prostate Cancer Survivors in the US: A Double Hurdle Model of Ethnic Disparities," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 40, pages 282-304.
    11. Viete, Steffen & Erdsiek, Daniel, 2018. "Trust-based work time and the productivity effects of mobile information technologies in the workplace," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-013, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    12. Lollo, Niklas & O’Rourke, Dara, 2018. "Productivity, Profits, and Pay: A Field Experiment Analyzing the Impacts of Compensation Systems in an Apparel Factory," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt31c4j2hz, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    13. Forth, John & Bryson, Alex, 2018. "State Substitution for the Trade Union Good: The Case of Paid Holiday Entitlements," IZA Discussion Papers 11615, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Zapf, Ines & Weber, Enzo, 2017. "The role of employer, job and employee characteristics for flexible working time : An empirical analysis of overtime work and flexible working hours' arrangements," IAB-Discussion Paper 201704, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    15. Bellmann, Lutz & Hübler, Olaf, 2015. "Are Working Time Accounts Beneficial for German Establishments?," IZA Discussion Papers 9583, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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