Hours Worked in Europe and the US: New Data, New Answers

Alexander Bick, Bettina Brüggemann and Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln ()
Additional contact information
Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln: Goethe University Frankfurt

No 10179, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We use national labor force surveys from 1983 through 2011 to construct hours worked per person on the aggregate level and for different demographic groups for 18 European countries and the US. We find that Europeans work 19% fewer hours than US citizens. Differences in weeks worked and in the educational composition each account for one third to one half of this gap. Lower hours per person than in the US are in addition driven by lower weekly hours worked in Scandinavia and Western Europe, but by lower employment rates in Eastern and Southern Europe.

Keywords: Europe-US hours gap; hours worked; employment; labor supply; demographic structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 J21 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2016-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-lma and nep-mac
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Published - published in: Scandinavian Journal of Economic, 2019, 121 (4), 1381 - 1516

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https://docs.iza.org/dp10179.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Hours Worked in Europe and the US: New Data, New Answers (2017)
Working Paper: Hours Worked in Europe and the US: New Data, New Answers (2016)
Working Paper: Hours Worked in Europe and the US: New Data, New Answers (2016)
Working Paper: Hours Worked in Europe and the US: New Data, New Answers (2016)
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