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Mismatches Between Actual and Preferred Work Time: Empirical Evidence of Hours Constraints in 21 Countries

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Abstract

This paper analyses the discrepancy between actual and desired working hours in a multinational setting. Using the latest data of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) with a focus on work orientations hours constraints in 21 heterogeneous countries are analysed. One major finding is that hours constraints are interrelated with macroeconomic variables such as (a) unemployment rates, (b) GDP per capita as a measure of welfare, (c) average weekly work hours, and (d) income inequality. A subsequent multivariate analysis reveals that, on both macro- and microlevels, sociodemographic variables like prosperity and income, high risk of unemployment, and working conditions play an important role in determining working hours constraints. The results further suggest that, with respect to working conditions, such constraints are also affected by gender issues.

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Notes

  1. For a more critical view on the incentive models discussed by Bell and Freeman (2001 and 1995), see Osberg (2003).

  2. The ISSP datasets are kept in the GESIS Data Archive, which is responsible for archiving, data integration, and documentation, as well as for data distribution. Documentation of the respective modules is available from the GESIS Data Archive web page and from the GESIS Data Archive Online Study Catalogue (ZACAT).

  3. The regressions were also run for the full sample (including observations with high influence). The results (not reported here) do not change the tendency of the interrelations.

  4. The ISSP 1989 data are inappropriate for the pooled analysis because of decisive differences in the variables that describe working conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Household and Consumer Economics, University of Hohenheim, Fruwirthstr. 48, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany

    Steffen Otterbach

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  1. Steffen Otterbach
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Correspondence to Steffen Otterbach.

Additional information

The data used in this publication were made available by the GESIS data archive. The author would also like to thank Alfonso Sousa-Poza and Valerie Møller for valuable comments and discussion.

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Otterbach, S. Mismatches Between Actual and Preferred Work Time: Empirical Evidence of Hours Constraints in 21 Countries. J Consum Policy 33, 143–161 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-009-9116-7

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