Does Labor Legislation Benefit Workers? Well-Being after an Hours Reduction

Arbeitspapier

Are workers in modern economies working too hard – would they be better off if an equilibrium with fewer work hours were achieved? We examine changes in life satisfaction of Japanese and Koreans over a period when hours of work were cut exogenously because employers suddenly faced an overtime penalty that had become effective with fewer weekly hours per worker. Using repeated cross sections we show that life satisfaction in both countries may have increased relatively among those workers most likely to have been affected by the legislation. The same finding is produced using Korean longitudinal data. In a household model estimated over the Korean cross-section data we find some weak evidence that a reduction in the husband's work hours increased his wife's well-being. Overall these results are consistent with the claim that legislated reductions in work hours can increase workers' happiness.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 8077

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Time Allocation and Labor Supply ; Labor Demand ; Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
• Thema: happiness ; overtime work ; rat-race

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Hamermesh, Daniel S. ; Kawaguchi, Daiji ; Lee, Jungmin
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (wo): Bonn
• (wann): 2014

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/96679
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ