Marketization of Production and the Us-Europe Employment Gap

31 Pages Posted: 21 Feb 2002 Last revised: 17 Jul 2022

See all articles by Richard B. Freeman

Richard B. Freeman

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Edinburgh - School of Social and Political Studies; Harvard University; London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP)

Ronald Schettkat

University of Wuppertal - Department of Economics

Date Written: February 2002

Abstract

Women work much more in the US than in Germany and most other EU economies. We find that the US-German employment gap is not strongly related to cross-country differences in the level of pay or social benefits. The difference in employment is due to the different marketization of activities between the two economies: German women work as many hours as US women when we consider time spent in household production as well as in market production. For instance, German women spend more time preparing meals while US women use take-out and restaurants more intensely. The organization of some social activities, such as schooling, and the dispersion of skills, as well as pay differences, affect the degree of marketization.

Suggested Citation

Freeman, Richard B. and Schettkat, Ronald, Marketization of Production and the Us-Europe Employment Gap (February 2002). NBER Working Paper No. w8797, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=301418

Richard B. Freeman (Contact Author)

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Ronald Schettkat

University of Wuppertal - Department of Economics ( email )

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Germany

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