Journal of Policy Analysis and Management · 2019 · 12 citations · 18 references
Social SciencesEconomicsRegulatory PolicyLabor EconomicsLabor PolicyProduction EconomicsHours Of Work RegulationIndustrial PolicyPersonnel EconomicsProductivity AnalysisWorking HoursWorking Time RegulationHours Reduction RegulationLabor ProductivityManufacturingProductivityReduced Hours WorkTotal Factor ProductivityWork Hours RegulationWorking Hours Regulation
Abstract This paper examines the impact of a workweek reduction policy on the labor productivity of manufacturing plants in Korea. Taking advantage of the stepwise introduction of the standard 40‐hour workweek in Korea, we apply a difference‐in‐differences framework to individual‐level cross‐sectional and plant‐level longitudinal data to examine the impact of the policy on working hours and output, respectively. We find that the policy reduced per‐worker hours but increased per‐worker output, which is robust to various specifications and sample restrictions. The observed increase in per‐worker output is likely to be mediated through the increase in the total factor productivity and the amount of capital stock.
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