Are the French Happy with the 35-Hour Workweek?

November 1, 2006

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Format: Chicago

Marcello M. Estevão, and Filipa G Sa. Are the French Happy with the 35-Hour Workweek?, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2006) accessed November 23, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

Legally mandated reductions in the workweek can be either a constraint on individuals' choice or a tool to coordinate individuals' preferences for lower work hours. We confront these two hypotheses by studying the consequences of the workweek reduction in France from 39 to 35 hours, which was first applied to large firms in 2000. Using the timing difference by firm size to set up a quasi-experiment and data from the French labor force survey, we show that the law constrained the choice of a significant number of individuals: dual-job holdings increased, some workers in large firms went to small firms where hours were not constrained, and others were replaced by cheaper, unemployed individuals as relative hourly wages increased in large firms. Employment of persons directly affected by the law declined, although the net effect on aggregate employment was not significant.

Subject: Employment, Income, Labor, National accounts, Unemployment, Wages

Keywords: Business cycle, Coordination, Employment, Europe, Firm employee, Firms vis-à-vis, Income, Job-sharing, Labor force, Large firm, Minimum wage, Small firm, Unemployment, Wages, Welfare, Work hour, Workweek, Workweek reduction, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

24
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2006/251
Stock No:

WPIEA2006251
ISBN:

9781451865110
ISSN:

1018-5941

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