In Search of Working Time? Hours Constraints, Firms and Mobility

Baptiste Roux ()
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Baptiste Roux: PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris

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Abstract: Can workers reach their ideal working hours over time? This paper provides novel empirical evidence on hours constraints-barriers for workers to work their desired hours at a given wage rate-by linking self-reported hour preferences from large-scale survey data with administrative employer-employee data between 2003 and 2023. Twenty percent of French salaried workers report wanting to increase their hours at their given wage. Leveraging the panel dimension of my data, I show that constrained workers switch employers more frequently and experience increases in hours and earnings through mobility. However, most constrained workers remain unable to adjust their hours to their desired level within 3 years after their report. Next, I develop a revealed preference method to quantify welfare effects associated with constraints and find that workers would on average accept a 10.2% reduction in hourly wages to work in a job offering their desired number of hours. These findings highlight the important role of hours worked as a job amenity in shaping labor market sorting.

Keywords: Working Hours; Labor Supply; Hours Constraints (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-05419330v1
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