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Working hours and productivity
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Working hours and productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Marion Collewet
  • Jan Sauermann

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.
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Suggested Citation

  • Marion Collewet & Jan Sauermann, 2017. "Working hours and productivity," LIDAM Reprints CORE 2905, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cor:louvrp:2905
    Note: In : Labour Economics, 47, 96-106, 2017
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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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    8. 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).
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    17. Dora Gicheva, 2020. "Occupational Social Value and Returns to Long Hours," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(347), pages 682-712, July.
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    19. 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.
    20. Violeta Cvetkoska & Milanka Dimovska, 2021. "What Will Be The Productivity Of Employees With Shorter Work Hours?," International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), Computer Science Journals (CSC Journals), vol. 12(4), pages 139-162, August.
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    More about this item

    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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