European Vs. American Hours Worked: Assessing the Role of the Extensive and Intensive Margins

21 Pages Posted: 1 Dec 2008

See all articles by François Langot

François Langot

Le Mans University; University of Angers - Centre d'Etudes Prospectives d'Economie Mathematique Appliquees a la Planification (CEPREMAP); Université du Maine - Groupe d' Analyse des Itineraires et Niveaux Salariaux (GAINS); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Coralia Quintero Rojas

Universidad de Guanajuato; GAINS-TEPP

Abstract

Europeans have worked less than Americans since the 1970s. In this paper, we quantify the relative importance of the extensive and intensive margins of aggregate hours of market work on the observed differences. Our counterfactual exercises show that the two dimensions of the extensive margin, the employment rate and the participation rate, explain the most of the total-hours-gap between regions. Moreover, both ratios have similar weight. Conversely, the intensive margin, measured by the number of hours worked per employee, has the smallest role.

Keywords: hours of market work, participation, employment, intensive and extensive margins

JEL Classification: E2, J2

Suggested Citation

Langot, Francois and Quintero Rojas, Coralia, European Vs. American Hours Worked: Assessing the Role of the Extensive and Intensive Margins. IZA Discussion Paper No. 3846, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1309088 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1309088

Francois Langot (Contact Author)

Le Mans University ( email )

University of Angers - Centre d'Etudes Prospectives d'Economie Mathematique Appliquees a la Planification (CEPREMAP) ( email )

Ecole Normale Superieure
48 boulevard Jourdan
75014 Paris
France

Université du Maine - Groupe d' Analyse des Itineraires et Niveaux Salariaux (GAINS) ( email )

72085 Le Mans Cedex 9
France

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Coralia Quintero Rojas

Universidad de Guanajuato ( email )

Guanajuato
Mexico

GAINS-TEPP

72085 Le Mans Cedex 9
France

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
125
Abstract Views
775
Rank
407,063
PlumX Metrics