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Research Article

Shorter hours wanted? A systematic review of working‐time preferences and outcomes

Authors: Miklós ANTAL (MTA‐ELTE Lendület New Vision Research Group, Eötvös Loránd University) , Benedikt LEHMANN (Institute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences) , Thiago GUIMARAES (International Labour Review) , Alexandra HALMOS (International Labour Review) , Bence LUKÁCS (International Labour Review)

  • Shorter hours wanted? A systematic review of working‐time preferences and outcomes

    Research Article

    Shorter hours wanted? A systematic review of working‐time preferences and outcomes

    Authors: , , , ,

Abstract

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.

Changes in working time have important economic, social and environmental implications. However, research on workers' preferences is highly fragmented across disciplines and journals. To overcome this, the present article provides a systematic review of the literature, analysing 173 studies. The study shows that working‐time outcomes and mismatches are mostly studied in a small group of OECD countries, using survey data and statistical methods. The most clear and consistent results are about gender, care responsibilities and current working hours. Among professions, only the medical workforce receives substantial attention. Norms and preference formation are poorly understood, and more qualitative research is essential to understand how working‐time reductions could spread.

Keywords: preferences, working‐time reduction, industrial relations, overemployment, mismatch, underemployment, literature survey

Rights: © 2023 The Authors. International Labour Review published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Labour Organization.

Peer Reviewed