How Does Working-Time Flexibility Affect Workers' Productivity in a Routine Job? Evidence from a Field Experiment

Marie Boltz, Bart Cockx, Ana Diaz Escobar and Luz Salas ()
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Luz Salas: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana

No 13825, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We conducted an experiment in which we hired workers under different types of contracts to evaluate how flexible working time affects on-the-job productivity in a routine job. Our approach breaks down the global impact on productivity into sorting and behavioral effects. We find that all forms of working-time flexibility reduce the length of workers' breaks. For part-time work, these positive effects are globally counterbalanced. Yet arrangements that allow workers to decide when to start and stop working increase global productivity by as much as 50 percent, 40 percent of which is induced by sorting.

Keywords: labor market flexibility; productivity; flexible work arrangements; work-life balance; part-time work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J21 J22 J23 J24 J33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 52 pages
Date: 2020-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff, nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-lma
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Published - published in in: British Journal of Industrial Relations , 2023, 61 (1), 159 - 187

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Related works:
Journal Article: How does working‐time flexibility affect workers' productivity in a routine job? Evidence from a field experiment (2023)
Working Paper: How Does Working-Time Flexibility Affect Workers' Productivity in a Routine Job? Evidence from a Field Experiment (2020)
Working Paper: How Does Working-Time Flexibility Affect Workers’ Productivity in a Routine Job? Evidence from a Field Experiment (2020)
Working Paper: How Does Working-Time Flexibility Affect Workers' Productivity in a Routine Job ? Evidence from a Field Experiment (2020)
Working Paper: How Does Working-Time Flexibility Affect Workers' Productivity in a Routine Job ? Evidence from a Field Experiment (2020)
Working Paper: How Does Working-Time Flexibility Affect Worker's Productivity in a Routine Job? Evidence from a Field Experiment (2020)
Working Paper: How Does Working-Time Flexibility Affect Workers’ Productivity in a Routine Job? Evidence from a Field Experiment (2020)
Working Paper: How Does Working-Time Flexibility Affect Workers’ Productivity in a Routine Job? Evidence from a Field Experiment (2020)
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