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Working Hours and Productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Collewet, Marion
  • Sauermann, Jan

    (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University)

Abstract
This paper studies the link between working hours and productivity using daily information on working hours and performance of a sample of call centre agents. We exploit variation in the number of hours worked by the same employee across days and weeks due to central scheduling, enabling us to estimate the effect of working hours on productivity. We find that as the number of hours worked increases, the average handling time for a call increases, meaning that agents become less productive. This result suggests that fatigue can play an important role, even in jobs with mostly part-time workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Collewet, Marion & Sauermann, Jan, 2017. "Working Hours and Productivity," Working Paper Series 3/2017, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2017_003
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Bank holidays & productivity
      by chris in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2017-04-23 17:07:12

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    12. Rebecca Allen & Asma Benhenda & John Jerrim & Sam Sims, 2020. "New evidence on teachers' working hours in England. An empirical analysis of four datasets," CEPEO Working Paper Series 20-02, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Jan 2020.
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    14. MORIKAWA Masayuki, 2018. "Uncertainty over Working Schedules and Compensating Wage Differentials: From the viewpoint of labor management," Discussion papers 18015, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    15. Françoise Delmez & Vincent Vandenberghe, 2017. "Working long hours: less productive but less costly? Firm-level evidence from Belgium," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2017022, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    16. Adrian Chadi, 2017. "There Is No Place like Work: Evidence on Health and Labor Market Behavior from Changing Weather Conditions," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201709, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    17. Juliana Abagsonema Abane & Ronald Adamtey & Virceta Owusu Ayim, 2022. "Does organizational culture influence employee productivity at the local level? A test of Denison's culture model in Ghana’s local government sector," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, December.
    18. Asai, Kentaro & Lopes, Marta C. & Tondini, Alessandro, 2024. "Firm-Level Effects of Reductions in Working Hours," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 2405, CEPREMAP.
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    20. Marco Clemens & Jan Sauermann, 2024. "Making the Right Call: The Heterogeneous Effects of Individual Performance Pay on Productivity," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202405, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    working hours; productivity; output; labour demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

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