Changes In Working Hours Research Articles

De transitie naar ouderschap en relatietevredenheid - Een longitudinaal dyadisch perspectief

The transition to parenthood and relationship satisfaction:.A longitudinal dyadic perspective.This study investigates to what extent (1) women’s and men’s relationship satisfaction within couples is similarly or differently affected by becoming a parent and (2) to what extent changes in work hours and hours spent on household labor affect a person’s own and their partner’s relationship satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. We made use of 12 waves of the British Household Panel Study (BHPS). We selected 689 couples, whose relationship remained intact during the period of observation, and where both members were employed, childless and living with their partner (28 percent were married) at the first moment of observation. Making use of a longitudinal dyadic approach to examine the impact of the transition to parenthood on relationship satisfaction, our results unequivocally reveal that relationship satisfaction of both members in a couple changed in tandem after becoming parents. The results indicate that men became less satisfied with their relationship across the transition to parenthood when they themselves spent more hours on household labor and when their spouse spent more hours on household labor. Although work hours and household labor affected people’s own and their spouse’s relationship satisfaction to some extent, these factors could not account for the strong persistent U-shaped effect the birth of a child had on couple’s relationship satisfaction.

Examining Changes in Reported Work Conditions in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan Between 1994 and 2003-05

To examine changes in work hours, work schedules, the psychosocial work environment and job satisfaction in three Canadian provinces between 1994 and 2003-05. The study sample consisted of 46,998 respondents over four cross-sectional surveys: 1994, 2000 and 2003/05 in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Using regression models, we examined trends in work conditions across survey cycles both unadjusted, and after adjustment for differences in age, education, gender, immigration, and method of interview. Crude models observed increases in rotating shifts, long work hours and job security between 1994 and 2003-05, and decreases in physical demands and job satisfaction. When models were adjusted for changes in labour market demographics and educational capacity, we further observed decreases in skill discretion, decision authority, co-worker support and in regular scheduled work across survey cycles. We also noted differences in trends for two outcomes (decision authority and co-worker support) depending on interview method. Employees in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan were more likely to be working longer hours, at non-standard time during the week, and to be less satisfied with their jobs between 1994 and 2003/05. In addition, it appears the labour market in these provinces has not adjusted sufficiently to accommodate the increasing number of workers with high levels of education and increasing age, with declines observed in decision authority, skill discretion and co-worker support once these changes were taken into account.

Examining Changes in Reported Work Conditions in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan Between 1994 and 2003–05

Objectives: To examine changes in work hours, work schedules, the psychosocial work environment and job satisfaction in three Canadian provinces between 1994 and 2003–05. Methods: The study sample consisted of 46,998 respondents over four cross-sectional surveys: 1994, 2000 and 2003/05 in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Using regression models, we examined trends in work conditions across survey cycles both unadjusted, and after adjustment for differences in age, education, gender, immigration, and method of interview. Results: Crude models observed increases in rotating shifts, long work hours and job security between 1994 and 2003–05, and decreases in physical demands and job satisfaction. When models were adjusted for changes in labour market demographics and educational capacity, we further observed decreases in skill discretion, decision authority, co-worker support and in regular scheduled work across survey cycles. We also noted differences in trends for two outcomes (decision authority and co-worker support) depending on interview method. Conclusions: Employees in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan were more likely to be working longer hours, at non-standard time during the week, and to be less satisfied with their jobs between 1994 and 2003/05. In addition, it appears the labour market in these provinces has not adjusted sufficiently to accommodate the increasing number of workers with high levels of education and increasing age, with declines observed in decision authority, skill discretion and co-worker support once these changes were taken into account.

Symptoms of Heat Illness Among Latino Farm Workers in North Carolina

Symptoms of occupational heat illness provide an early warning that workers are in potentially life-threatening environmental conditions. This analysis was designed to assess the extent to which strategies to reduce the health impact of extreme heat were associated with the prevalence of heat illness among Latino farm workers. Between June and September 2009, a total of 300 Latino men and women participated in a cross-sectional survey about farm worker health. Participants reported whether they were employed through the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program and whether they had ever worked in conditions of extreme heat during their work in the U.S. agricultural industry. Workers who had worked in extreme heat also responded to questions about selected activities and behaviors and whether they experienced symptoms of heat illness. Data analysis was conducted in 2009 to assess associations of altering work hours and activities, drinking more water, resting in shaded areas, and going to air-conditioned places during or after work, with the prevalence of symptoms of heat illness among H-2A and non-H-2A workers. Working in extreme heat was reported by 281 respondents (94%), among whom 112 (40%) reported symptoms of heat illness. Changes in work hours and activities during hot conditions were associated with a lower prevalence of heat illness among H-2A workers but not among non-H-2A workers. These findings suggest the need to improve the understanding of working conditions for farm workers and to assess strategies to reduce agricultural workers' environmental heat exposure.

Women between Part-Time and Full-Time Work: The Influence of Changing Hours of Work on Happiness and Life-Satisfaction

This paper asks whether part-time work makes women happy. Previous research on labour supply has assumed that as workers freely choose their optimal working hours on the basis of their innate preferences and the hourly wage rate, outcome reflects preference. This paper tests this assumption by measuring the impact of changes in working-hours on life satisfaction in two countries (the UK and Germany using the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Household Panel Survey). We find decreases in working-hours bring about positive and significant improvement on well-being for women.

The impact of 9/11 on hours of work and labour force participation in the US

The purpose of this article is to use observed changes in hours of work and labour force participation to draw inferences regarding behavioural responses to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US. Using the Current Population Survey and controlling for differences in demographics, labour market conditions and a time-invariant unobserved individual fixed effect, we determine that for most sub-samples there was no change in labour force participation or in hours of work after 9/11 relative to before. Exceptions were women, who increased their labour force participation, and workers living in the proximity of one of the 9/11 events, who increased their hours of work. These results are consistent with a precautionary increase in labour supply during an uncertain time, and with others' documentation of women responding more dramatically to external stressors.

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Estimating Frisch labor supply elasticity in Japan

Using Japanese data from the 1990s aggregated by prefecture, age group, and sex, we estimate Frisch labor supply elasticity, which has been seldom estimated in Japan. The change in labor supply can be decomposed into two labor-supply behaviors: extensive margin, indicating workers' entry and exit from the labor market; and intensive margin, indicating changes in hours of work in response to a wage change. Our estimates of the Frisch elasticity on the extensive and intensive margins combined are in the range of 0.2 to 0.7 for males, 1.3 to 1.5 for females, and 0.7 to 1.0 for both sexes. Our estimates of the Frisch elasticity on only the intensive margin are in the range of 0.1 to 0.2 for all three categories. These results suggest that extensive margin explains the bulk of labor-supply changes in Japan. As for the changes in the estimates of the Frisch elasticity in Japan from the 1990s, it has been either unchanged or in a declining trend on the extensive and intensive margins combined, either unchanged or in a slight rising trend on only the intensive margin, and in a declining trend on only the extensive margin. J. Japanese Int. Economies 22 (4) (2008) 566–585.

Mexican Immigrants, the Labor Market and the Current Population Survey: Seasonality Effects, Framing Effects, and Sensitivity of Results

In this paper we compare estimates of immigrants’ labor supply assimilation profiles using the Current Population Survey Annual Demographic Files (March ADS) and the Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Groups (ORGs). We use a measure that is seemingly consistent across both surveys: usual weekly hours of work in the main job. Our results indicate that the two surveys produce dramatically different estimates of the change in average hours of work as immigrants’ years in the United States increase: estimates from the March ADS predict much steeper hour’s assimilation profiles than do estimates obtained from the ORGs. We argue that these differences stem from two separate factors that differentiate the data. First, the ADS and ORG frame the usual hours worked question differently. Also, differences in the timing of the surveys may produce seasonality effects that differentially affect the composition of recent and earlier migrants, thereby changing assimilation profiles.

Internal Medicine Department Chairs: Where They Come From, Why They Leave, Where They Go

Internal Medicine Department Chairs: Where They Come From, Why They Leave, Where They Go

Quantitative Measurement of Successful Performance from the Project Manager’s Perspective

This paper describes a process for converting a project manager's qualitative evaluation of to a quantitative measurement. In a recent study, randomly selected electrical companies throughout the United States submitted two projects for analysis: (1) one project that was well planned and performed successfully; and (2) one project that was poorly planned and performed less-than-successfully. Overall, 55 projects were evaluated. Success, however, is a subjective concept that often depends on the team member providing the definition. Consequently, during the interview process, project managers were asked to provide their own definition of successful performance, and this definition was matched to the collected data to identify appropriate variables for inclusion in a performance measurement index. A reliability analysis was performed, and six variables were ultimately used to construct the index, including actual percent profit, percent schedule overrun, amount of time given, communication between team members, budget achievement, and change in work hours. A cross-validation technique was used to evaluate the performance measurement index, and a misclassification rate of 2% was observed, which indicated that the model was useful for quantitatively measuring successful performance based on the project managers' definitions of success.

Workhours in relation to work stress, recovery and health

This paper aims at describing the associations between workhours and psychosocial work characteristics and reviews the health effects of workhours and the related pathways. The role of insufficient sleep as a possible common pathway from workhours and work stress to cardiovascular illness is discussed. Finally, the key possibilities for improving recovery and health through changes in workhours are identified. Night work and shift work are related to a wide range of health effects, the evidence for the risk of cardiovascular morbidity being the strongest. Insufficient or poor sleep, related to insufficient recovery, can be a common pathway from long workhours, shift work, and work stress to cardiovascular illness. The most promising worktime-related means for decreasing the psychosocial workload and negative health effects of workhours would be (i) to regulate overtime and excessive workhours, (ii) increase individual worktime control, and (iii) increase recovery from the introduction of sleep-promoting principles into shift rotation.

An Employment Equation for Australia*

Changes in standard hours of work, as occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, alter the budget constraint facing employers and their employment decisions. Using quarterly data for the period 1969:1–2004:1, an employment equation for Australia that includes standard hours as well as the usual output, real wage and trend explanatory variables is estimated. Standard hours are found to be a significant explanatory variable, and omission of the variable results in biased estimates of the parameters on the other variables, especially on the real wage. When we allow for asymmetric adjustment, employment decisions are found to respond more quickly to changes in economic conditions in recessions than in other phases of the business cycle.

Effect of Work-hour Reforms on Operative Case Volume of Surgical Residents

There has been much concern regarding the impact of work-hour reforms on the operative case volume of surgical residents. Operative case volume by PGY year and clinical rotation were examined to determine if changes in work hours affected residents' operative case volume. A careful but aggressive plan of work-hour reduction was devised for the residency of the authors' institution with the goal to decrease work hours while maintaining optimal patient care and resident education, including operative case volume. Changes made included hiring physician extenders (PEs), decreasing call schedules to every fourth night (with the next day free from clinical activities-Q4) or call from home (HC), and night float rotation coverage for services (NF). Case volume before (academic year 2002) and after (academic year 2003) changes were compared by PGY year, for all residents and for specific rotations-private general surgery, which had changes of PE, HC, and NF for PGY5; PE, Q4 and NF for PGY1 and 10% exemption for work hours; Churchill service (a resident-run ward teaching service), which had changes of PE and Q4 for PGY5 and PGY1 and 10% exemption for work hours; and vascular surgery, which had HC and NF for PGY5. Total case volume on these services was likewise compared. Statistical analysis was by student t test. Operative case volume was measured with data from the resident-entered information on the ACGME Surgical Operative Log (SOL). Case volume for PGY4 residents could not be compared over this time period because of lack of access to archived data by PGY year for graduated residents through the ACGME SOL. Work hours before and after rotation changes were measured with an intranet-based monitoring system. This article is a retrospective review of the affects of these work-hour changes on operative case volume. Total case volume for the general surgical services (both private and Churchill) was unchanged over this period (5905 in 02, 5930 in 03), and likewise for the vascular service (1101 vs 1196). Overall, there was no change in mean operative volume per year for surgical residents in this program (231 cases in 2002, 246 cases in 2003; p = 0.61). For PGY5 residents, the case volume increased; 339 cases 02, 390 in 03, and p = 0.05. Mean case volume for PGY5 residents increased on the private general surgery service (136 in 02, 160 in 03, p = 0.03), but it remained stable on the Churchill service (137 in 02, 158 in 03, p = 0.39) and vascular service (65 in 02, 73 in 03, p = 0.42). For PGY3 residents, case volume remained stable (171 in 02, 187 in 03, p = 0.62), as it did for PGY2 and PGY1 residents (PGY2: 148 in 02, 121 in 03, p = 0.12; PGY1: 265 in 02, 246 in 03, p = 0.23). However, operative case volume for PGY1 residents did decrease on the private general surgery service (mean 52 cases per month 02, 43 cases per month 03, p = 0.07), while remaining stable on the Churchill service (mean 23 cases per month 02, 25 cases per month 03, p = 0.66). Average hours worked per week decreased significantly over the time period. Before work-hour reforms, residents' average work hours were as follows: PGY1 105, PGY2 97, PGY3 78.7, PGY4 111, and PGY5 92. After the changes, average work hours were PGY1 81.5, PGY2 77.7, PGY3 78.7, PGY4 75.5, and PGY5 75.9. Work-hour limitation can be devised to maximize resident education, optimize patient care, and maintain resident operative volume. Although some changes (HC, PE, NF) seemed to increase the operative case volume for PGY5 residents, others had no effect (Q4, HC). There does not seem to be a clear relationship between types of changes and case volume. At the PGY1 level, Q4 and PE changes decreased operative experience on 1 rotation but not on another, although the difference in this decrease seems clinically insignificant. Individualization of changes to meet the needs of specific rotations seems more important than specific changes in coverage pattern. Perhaps the most important finding is that changes can be made to bring work hours into compliance without materially effecting operative case volume.

Life after 80 Hours: The Impact of Resident Work Hours Mandates on Trauma and Emergency Experience and Work Effort for Senior Residents and Faculty

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of work hours mandates on (1) senior resident patient exposure and operating experience in trauma and emergency surgery and (2) faculty work effort. We measured resident and faculty work on the trauma and emergency surgery services at our Level I trauma center during two comparable 6-month periods. Period 1 (July 1-December 31, 2002) had no call restrictions, separate trauma and emergency service resident call, and some overlap of faculty call responsibilities. Period 2 (July 1-December 31, 2003) had resident work hours compliance and complete integration of resident and faculty trauma and emergency call. Work hours were measured by surveys for faculty and residents. All data were collected prospectively. Resident exposure to trauma patients was similar during both time periods. Emergency surgery admissions declined during period 2; however, intensive care unit admissions increased. The number of operations performed by senior residents did not change; however, there was a shift in the median number of emergency surgery cases to more senior residents. Faculty work hours increased slightly despite a decrease in faculty call. Work hours compliance resulted in a 50% reduction in senior resident call and a 19% decrease in their work hours with no significant change in trauma/emergency patient care exposure or operative case load. Service call amalgamation reduced faculty call by 21% but did not result in a corresponding change in work hours or productivity.

The Future of Work Hours-the European View

In Europe the way work hours are handled varies between different countries. However, there are some issues that dominate the discussion in Europe and seem representative for what is happening. One such is the reduction of working hours--which was attempted in several countries but which now seems to be backfiring--probably related to the competition from countries outside Europe. Another area is compressed work hours--the drive towards maximizing the hours per work day in order to increase the number of days off. The health effects are debated--some find clear positive effects. A third area is company oriented flexible work hours, permitting the employer to make moderate changes in work hours when needed. The health impacts have not been evaluated but the loss of individual influence at work is obvious. In some parts of Europe self-determined work hours have been tried with very positive effects. The EU work hour directive is intended to provide uniformity but permits a counterproductive "opting out", creating problems of imbalance.

Unions, Temporary Employment and Hours of Work: A Tale of Two Countries

This paper is the first attempt to analyse the relationship between unionisation, temporary employment and non-standard hours of work, comparing Spain and Britain, which are characterised by relatively different labour market structures and substantially different degrees of employment protections. Despite such differences, these two countries show similar responses of unionisation to flexible employment. In particular, we find that union recognition in Britain and firm-level union presence in Spain do not respond to changes in long hours of work and overtime hours, whereas temporary employment is negatively correlated with union coverage in both countries. We find, however, some differences between the two countries when the samples are stratified by industry.

Unions, Temporary Employment and Hours of Work: A Tale of Two Countries

This paper is the first attempt to analyse the relationship between unionisation, temporary employment and non-standard hours of work, comparing Spain and Britain, which are characterised by relatively different labour market structures and substantially different degrees of employment protections. Despite such differences, these two countries show remarkably similar responses of unionisation to flexible employment. In particular, we find that union recognition in Britain and firm-level union presence in Spain do not respond to changes in long hours of work, overtime hours and temporary employment, whereas part-time employment is negatively correlated with union recognition in both countries. We find, however, some important differences between the two countries when the samples are stratified by industry. In Britain, the negative correlation between union coverage and part-time employment is especially marked for workers in the service industries. In Spain, instead, most of the action involves firms in manufacturing and other industries. These different responses of unionisation to flexible employment may be the result of the different industrial structures which characterise the two economies. But they may also reflect the different way in which trade unions operate within each labour market.

Effects of managed care contracting on physician labor supply.

We examine the effect of managed care contracting on physician labor supply for office-based medical practices. We extend the standard labor supply model to incorporate choices regarding the patient base. Empirical tests use data from the 1985 and 1988 national HCFA Physician Practice Costs and Income Surveys and InterStudy Managed Care Surveys. We use physician-level information on participation in managed care contracting to estimate changes in work hours. Managed care contracting is generally associated with lower physician work hours. However, accounting for motivations to participate in contracts and the extent of contracting, the effect on hours is reduced in magnitude and significance. We conclude that relying on broad aggregate measures for policy analysis will likely be misleading as underlying motivations and contracting incentives change over time.

Identifying interdependent behaviour in an empirical model of labour supply

In this paper we test a particular form of interdependent behaviour, namely the hypothesis that individuals' choices of hours of work are influenced by the average hours of work in a social reference group. There are problems in empirically disentangling the effects of interdependent behaviour and preference variation across groups. We show that panel data or data from several points in time are needed. In the empirical analysis we combine cross-section data from 1973, 1980, and 1990. Our results support the hypothesis of interdependent behaviour. The implication is that conventional tax policy predictions, in which preference interdependencies are neglected, will tend to underestimate the effect of a tax reform on hours of work. Our point estimates suggest that conventional calculations would capture only about a third of the actual change in hours of work. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.