Full Citation

Title: Reassessing Economic Constraints: Maximum Employment or Maximum Hours?

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2022

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: We argue that hours per worker are at least as important as employment rates when it comes to projecting future labor market trends and potential output. Based on data for 18 European countries and the US over the two decades prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we document that hours worked per person fell in most countries, driven by a uniform decline in hours per worker. By contrast, employment rates increased in most countries. We present a stylized model in which a decrease in the fixed costs of working rationalizes the pattern of decreasing hours per worker and increasing employment rates. Although the COVID-19 pandemic increased the fixed costs of working in the short run, recent survey evidence from the US suggests that changing work arrangements since the pandemic had the opposite effect and are likely to persist into the future.

Url: https://www.kansascityfed.org/Jackson Hole/documents/9031/JH_Paper_Fuchs-Schundeln.pdf

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Bick, Alexander; Blandin, Adam; Fuchs-Schündeln, Nicola

Publisher:

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Work, Family, and Time

Countries: