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Not Working at Work: Loafing, Unemployment and Labor Productivity

Michael Burda, Katie R. Genadek and Daniel Hamermesh

No 21923, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We use the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) 2003-12 to estimate time spent by workers in non-work while on the job. Non-work time is substantial and varies positively with the local unemployment rate. While average time spent by workers in non-work conditional on any positive amount rises with the unemployment rate, the fraction of workers reporting positive values varies pro-cyclically, declining in recessions. These results are consistent with a model in which heterogeneous workers are paid efficiency wages to refrain from loafing on the job. That model correctly predicts relationships of the incidence and conditional amounts of non-work with wage rates and measures of unemployment benefits in state data linked to the ATUS, and it is consistent with estimated occupational differences.

JEL-codes: E24 J23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hrm, nep-ltv and nep-mac
Note: LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Not Working At Work: Loafing, Unemployment and Labor Productivity (2015) Downloads
Working Paper: Not Working at Work: Loafing, Unemployment and Labor Productivity (2015) Downloads
Working Paper: Not working at work: Loafing, unemployment and labor productivity (2015) Downloads
Working Paper: Not Working at Work: Loafing, Unemployment and Labor Productivity (2015) Downloads
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