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The Timing of Labor Demand

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  • Ana Rute Cardoso
  • Daniel S.
  • José Varejão

Abstract

We examine the timing of firms' operations in a formal model of labor demand. Merging a variety of data sets from Portugal from 1995-2004, we describe temporal patterns of firms' demand for labor and estimate production-functions and relative labor-demand equations. The results demonstrate the existence of substitution of employment across times of the day/week and show that legislated penalties for work at irregular hours induce firms to alter their operating schedules. The results suggest a role for such penalties in an unregulated labor market, such as the United States, in which unusually large fractions of work are performed at night and on weekends.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Rute Cardoso & Daniel S. & José Varejão, 2008. "The Timing of Labor Demand," Working Papers 367, Barcelona School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bge:wpaper:367
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Labanca, Claudio & Pozzoli, Dario, 2018. "Coordination of Hours within the Firm," Working Papers 7-2018, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    2. Freddy H. Castro & Ingrid Monroy, 2011. "Demanda laboral en la Banca Central: análisis de tendencias 2000-2009," Borradores de Economia 662, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    3. Serena Yu & David Peetz, 2019. "Non‐Standard Time Wage Premiums and Employment Effects: Evidence from an Australian Natural Experiment," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(1), pages 33-61, March.
    4. German Cubas & Chinhui Juhn & Pedro Silos, 2023. "Coordinated Work Schedules and the Gender Wage Gap," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(651), pages 1036-1066.
    5. Labanca, Claudio & Pozzoli, Dario, 2022. "Hours Constraints and Wage Differentials across Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 14992, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2021. "Do labor costs affect companies’ demand for labor?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-3, February.
    7. Phil Lewis, 2014. "Paying the Penalty? The High Price of Penalty Rates in Australian Restaurants," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 21(1), pages 5-26.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor demand; time use; wage penalty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)

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