Working Paper: NBER ID: w14566
Authors: Ana Rute Cardoso; Daniel S. Hamermesh; Jos Varejo
Abstract: We examine the timing of firms' operations in a formal model of labor demand. Merging a variety of data sets from Portugal from 1995-2004, we describe temporal patterns of firms' demand for labor and estimate production-functions and relative labor-demand equations. The results demonstrate the existence of substitution of employment across times of the day/week and show that legislated penalties for work at irregular hours induce firms to alter their operating schedules. The results suggest a role for such penalties in an unregulated labor market, such as the United States, in which unusually large fractions of work are performed at night and on weekends.
Keywords: Labor Demand; Work Timing; Regulatory Penalties
JEL Codes: J23; J78
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| penalties for irregular work hours (J38) | firms' operating schedules (D25) |
| 25% wage penalty for night work (J31) | firms adjust their labor usage (J29) |
| changes in relative costs of labor at different times (J39) | labor demand (J23) |
| demographic differences (J19) | labor demand (J23) |
| timing of labor inputs (J22) | employment levels (J23) |