Lower wages for less hours? A simultaneous wage-hours model for Germany

Arbeitspapier

In this paper the impact of working hours on the gross hourly wage rate of West German women is analyzed. We use a simultaneous wage-hours model which takes into account the participation decision. First, our estimates show that the hourly wage rate is strongly a¤ected by the working hours. In order to avoid any assumptions about the functional form, we estimate linear spline functions. Second, we detect di¤erent wage-hours profiles for specific groups of individuals. Despite these di¤erences, the wage reduction for jobs with less than 20 hours a week and for overtime hours turns out to be a robust result. However, the hourly wage rate of jobs with 20 to 38 hours does not di¤er significantly. Third, for West German women, the exogeneity assumption of working hours in the wage regression must be rejected if the wage-hours locus is assumed to be the same for all individuals. As a result of this the wage rate of full-time employees is overestimated in the standrad OLS estimation.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ZEW Discussion Papers ; No. 00-03

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
• Subject: Zeitlohn ; Frauenarbeitslohn ; Arbeitszeit ; Teilzeitarbeit ; Humankapital ; Schätzung ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Wolf, Elke
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW)
• (where): Mannheim
• (when): 2000

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/24348
• Last update: 10.04.20252025, 4:44 PM CEST