The role of work schedules and the macroeconomy on labor effort

Garrett T. Senney and Lucia Dunn ()

Labour Economics, 2019, vol. 57, issue C, 23-34

Abstract: We investigate determinants of work effort using novel data from compressed air powered machinery in a large automotive plant. Work effort decreases monotonically across shifts, as industry-standard shift differentials do not fully compensate for the disutility of irregular shift times. Workers reduce their effective labor supply by exerting less effort rather than resorting to separation/renegotiation. Additionally, workers are found to respond to declining macroeconomic conditions by increasing work effort, presumably to avoid plant closure/layoff. Further support for this is seen by examining shift interactions with economic conditions which show the strongest effort effects for third, then second shift workers, in line with layoff risks.

Keywords: Work effort; Shift differentials; Labor market equilibrium; Macroeconomic conditions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J22 J31 M52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:57:y:2019:i:c:p:23-34

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2019.01.003

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