Working-Time Reductions, Employment and Wage Costs

Abstract

In the mid-1970s unions began a campaign to achieve reduced working hours. A central plank in this campaign was that it would create em ployinent. A decade later it becomes possible to examine the economic impact of that campaign. This paper reports some of the findings of a study recently undertaken with financial support from the Reserve Bank. The results obtained suggest that no general relationship existed between working time changes and employment levels but rather varied between industries. The potentially divisive issue of the funding of work-time changes is also examined. The results should be of interest to practitioners in the field of labour force management.