Working-Time Mismatch and Mental Health

Steffen Otterbach (), Mark Wooden and King Fok

Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

Abstract: Nationally representative panel survey data for Australia and Germany are used to investigate the impact of working-time mismatches (i.e., differences between actual and desired work hours) on mental health, as measured by the Mental Component Summary Score from the SF-12. Fixed effects and dynamic linear models are estimated, which, together with the longitudinal nature of the data, enable person-specific traits that are time invariant to be controlled for. The incorporation of dynamics also reduces concerns about the potential effects of reverse causation. The results suggest that overemployment (working more hours than desired) has adverse consequences for the mental health of workers in both countries, though the magnitude of such effects are larger in Germany. Underemployment (working fewer hours than desired), however, seems to only be of significance in Australia.

Keywords: Australia; Germany; mental health; Mental Component Summary Score (SF-12); longitudinal data; work hours; working-time mismatch (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43pp
Date: 2016-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Working-Time Mismatch and Mental Health (2016)
Working Paper: Working-Time Mismatch and Mental Health (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2016n11

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