Work-sharing for a sustainable economy

Publikation: Wissenschaftliche FachzeitschriftOriginalbeitrag in FachzeitschriftBegutachtung

Abstract

Achieving low unemployment in an environment of weak growth is a major policy challenge; a more egalitarian distribution of hours worked could be the key to solving it. Whether work-sharing actually increases employment, however, has been debated controversially. In this article we present stylized facts on the distribution of hours worked and discuss the role of work-sharing for a sustainable economy. Building on recent developments in labor market theory we review the determinants of working long hours and its effect on well-being. Finally, we survey work-sharing reforms in the past. While there seems to be a consensus that work-sharing in the Great Depression in the U.S. and in the Great Recession in Europe was successful in reducing employment losses, perceptions of the work-sharing reforms implemented between the 1980s and early 2000s are more ambivalent. However, even the most critical evaluations of these reforms provide no credible evidence of negative employment effects; instead, the overall success of the policy seems to depend on the economic and institutional setting, as well as the specific details of its implementation.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)246 - 253
FachzeitschriftEcological Economics
Jahrgang121
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 2016

Österreichische Systematik der Wissenschaftszweige (ÖFOS)

  • 502042 Umweltökonomie
  • 502046 Volkswirtschaftspolitik
  • 502047 Volkswirtschaftstheorie
  • 105904 Umweltforschung

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