Part-time Employment and Business Cycle in Central and Eastern Europe

Artikel

This article explores the development of part-time employment in Central and Eastern Europe and compares it to Western Europe. On the macro level it examines the role of the business cycle and its effect on part-time employment in the two groups of countries since 2001. The key result reveals that contrary to the West, the business cycle development exerts a significant negative effect on the part-time employment rate in Eastern Europe. When the economy operates below its potential, part-time employment tends to grow more than full-time employment. This finding is consistent with the labour demand effect and reflects the pursuit of flexibility by firms as well as the adjustment in composition of employment to changing economic conditions. The countercyclical effect is even stronger for involuntary part-time employment. Separate analyses of individual demographic groups of workers reveal a significant negative effect of the business cycle on part-time employment of older workers and male prime-age workers in Eastern Europe. In contrast, the effect is insignificant for young workers and unclear for prime-age women.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: Review of Economic Perspectives ; ISSN: 1804-1663 ; Volume: 17 ; Year: 2017 ; Issue: 2 ; Pages: 179-203 ; Warsaw: De Gruyter

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Labor Economics Policies ; Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply ; Economywide Country Studies: Europe
• Subject: business cycle ; part-time employment ; working time

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Fialová, Kamila
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): De Gruyter
• (where): Warsaw
• (when): 2017

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.1515/revecp-2017-0009
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/179875
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET