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Does Work Time Flexibility Work? An Empirical Assessment of the Efficiency Effects for German Firms

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  • Wolf, Elke
  • Beblo, Miriam

Abstract

In this paper we assess the impact of flexible work time schedules on firm efficiency using representative establishment data for Germany. Following the approach by Battese and Coelli (1995), we estimate a stochastic production frontier and the determinants of technical efficiency simultaneously. The innovation of our study is that we draw on technical efficiency instead of productivity to appraise the success of flexible working hours. The results indicate that while the use of work time schedules with moderate flexibility is positively related to technical efficiency, highly flexible work time arrangements seem to be negatively correlated with an efficient organization of the work flow. However, these efficiency losses should not be interpreted as causal effects, because highly flexible work time schedules are most likely to be introduced in struggling firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Wolf, Elke & Beblo, Miriam, 2004. "Does Work Time Flexibility Work? An Empirical Assessment of the Efficiency Effects for German Firms," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-47, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:2186
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Beckmann, Michael & Hegedüs, Istvan, 2011. "Trust-based working time and organizational performance: evidence from German establishment-level panel data," Working papers 2011/13, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    3. Schreiber, Sven, 2008. "Did work-sharing work in France? Evidence from a structural co-integrated VAR model," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 478-490, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Stochastic production frontier; flexible work hours; efficiency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • D29 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Other
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

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