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Long Work Hours and Health in China

Author

Listed:
  • Nie, Peng

    (Xi’an Jiaotong University)

  • Otterbach, Steffen

    (University of Hohenheim)

  • Sousa-Poza, Alfonso

    (University of Hohenheim)

Abstract

Using several waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), this study analyzes the effect of long work hours on health and lifestyles in a sample of 18- to 65-year-old Chinese workers. Although working long hours does significantly increase the probabilities of high blood pressure and poorer reported health, the effects are small. Also small are the negative effects of long work hours on sleep time, fat intake, and the probabilities of sports participation or watching TV. We find no positive association between work time and different measures of obesity and no evidence of any association with calorie intake, food preparation and cooking time, or the sedentary activities of reading, writing, or drawing. In general, after controlling for a rich set of covariates and unobserved individual heterogeneity, we find little evidence that long work hours affect either the health or lifestyles of Chinese workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Nie, Peng & Otterbach, Steffen & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2015. "Long Work Hours and Health in China," IZA Discussion Papers 8911, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8911
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Peng Nie & Lanlin Ding & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2020. "What Chinese Workers Value: An Analysis of Job Satisfaction, Job Expectations, and Labour Turnover in China," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2020(1), pages 85-104.
    2. Fei Zhang & Wei Xu & Adnan Khurshid, 2023. "The Interplay of Migrant Workers’ Working Hours, Income, and Well-Being in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-14, July.
    3. Hu, Zhi-An & Liu, Chang & Wen, Yiping, 2024. "Working hours and employee health: Evidence from China's workweek reduction policy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Nie, Peng & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2018. "Commute time and subjective well-being in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 188-204.
    5. Miki Kohara & Taisei Noda, 2023. "The causal effects of working time on mental health: The effectiveness of the law reform raising the overtime wage penalty," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 638-664, December.
    6. Zan Li & Junming Dai & Ning Wu & Yingnan Jia & Junling Gao & Hua Fu, 2019. "Effect of Long Working Hours on Depression and Mental Well-Being among Employees in Shanghai: The Role of Having Leisure Hobbies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-10, December.
    7. Peng Nie & Lanlin Ding & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, . "What Chinese Workers Value: An Analysis of Job Satisfaction, Job Expectations, and Labour Turnover in China," Prague Economic Papers, University of Economics, Prague, vol. 0, pages 1-18.
    8. Nie, Peng & Peng, Xu & Luo, Tianyuan, 2023. "Internet use and fertility behavior among reproductive-age women in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    lifestyle; health; long work hours; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions

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