Addiction to work: An Inelastic Wage Elasticity of Labour Supply Equals Long Hours of Work

Donatella Cavagnoli ()
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Donatella Cavagnoli: La Trobe University

Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), 2008, vol. 11, issue 2, 129-147

Abstract: A phenomenon of the last twenty years is the growth of ‘very long hours’ of work, especially amongst high-skilled labour. This is an unexpected reversal of a long trend in the opposite direction. This paper criticises the Beckerian analysis of labour-leisure choice. It argues that the more time is consumed in paid work, the more are preferences for paid work affected by it; thereby creating a vicious cycle of consumption patterns which lead to longer than expected hours of work.

Keywords: Time Allocation and Labor Supply; Labor Economics; General Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D91 J01 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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