Oxford University Press, USA
Diminishing Returns at Work: The Consequences of Long Working Hours
Diminishing Returns at Work: The Consequences of Long Working Hours
Regular price
$49.95 USD
Regular price
Sale price
$49.95 USD
Unit price
per
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Couldn't load pickup availability
The relationship between the number of hours worked and productivity has long fascinated economists and management. It is a central component of the production function that translates inputs to outputs. While increasing the number of hours someone works may increase output, this incisive book
demonstrates that there are diminishing returns to long working hours. John H. Pencavel provides an overview of how the length of working hours evolved from the 19th century to today and how the number of working hours affects work performance and other outcomes, including health, well-being, and wages. Diminishing Returns at Work provides a brief history of working
hours both in the United States and Britain, including the influence of trade unions pushing for shorter hours of work, the tension with employers who resisted reducing hours, and the influence of legislation and custom. Pencavel discusses various conceptual frameworks for specifying production
functions that measure the relationship between inputs and outputs and develops an alternative approach to estimate actual relationships through a reevaluation of classic studies, including the productivity of munitions workers in Britain during the First and Second World Wars and plywood mills in
Washington during the 1980s among others. The declining effectiveness of long hours is manifested not only in marketable output but also in a rising probability of ill-health and accidents, and evidence of this has been found both for blue-collar workers and for white-collar workers. In short, shorter hours of work might benefit both firms
and workers.
Author: John H. Pencavel
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 06/14/2018
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780190876166
demonstrates that there are diminishing returns to long working hours. John H. Pencavel provides an overview of how the length of working hours evolved from the 19th century to today and how the number of working hours affects work performance and other outcomes, including health, well-being, and wages. Diminishing Returns at Work provides a brief history of working
hours both in the United States and Britain, including the influence of trade unions pushing for shorter hours of work, the tension with employers who resisted reducing hours, and the influence of legislation and custom. Pencavel discusses various conceptual frameworks for specifying production
functions that measure the relationship between inputs and outputs and develops an alternative approach to estimate actual relationships through a reevaluation of classic studies, including the productivity of munitions workers in Britain during the First and Second World Wars and plywood mills in
Washington during the 1980s among others. The declining effectiveness of long hours is manifested not only in marketable output but also in a rising probability of ill-health and accidents, and evidence of this has been found both for blue-collar workers and for white-collar workers. In short, shorter hours of work might benefit both firms
and workers.
Author: John H. Pencavel
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 06/14/2018
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.88lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.40w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780190876166
About the Author
John H. Pencavel is the Levin Professor of Economics-Emeritus, Stanford University.
