Is part-time employment beneficial for firm productivity?

Arbeitspapier

This paper analyzes whether part-time employment is beneficial for firm productivity in the service sector. Using a unique dataset on the Dutch pharmacy sector that includes the work hours of all employees and a hard physical measure of firm productivity, we estimate a production function including heterogeneous employment shares based on work hours. We find that a larger part-time employment share leads to greater firm productivity. Additional data on the timing of labor demand show that part-time employment enables firms to allocate labor more efficiently. First, firms with part-time workers can bridge the gap between opening hours and a full-time work week. Second, we find that during opening hours part-time workers are scheduled differently than full-timers. For example, we find that part-time workers enable their full-time colleagues to take lunch breaks so that the firm can remain open during these times.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 5423

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Organization of Production ; Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
• Subject: heterogeneous labor ; matched employer-employee data ; allocation of labor ; timing of labor demand ; Teilzeitarbeit ; Produktivität ; Arbeitsnachfrage ; Dienstleistungssektor ; Pharmazeutische Industrie ; Niederlande

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Nelen, Annemarie ; Grip, Andries de ; Fouarge, Didier
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2011

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/46009
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-201104084342
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET