Hours, Employment and Earnings of American Manufacturing Workers from the 19th Century to the 21st Century

Bibliographic Data

ID9727071
AuthorsJohn Pencavel (Stanford University, corresponding author), John H Pencavel (Stanford University)
Year2021
Volume88
Issue351
Pages601-623
Publication date2021-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEconomica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0427 • E-ISSN: 1468-0335
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ecca.12370
OpenAlexW3152712358
LanguageEN
References cited18

For a century, two labour market empirical regularities characterized the movements of the hours of work, employment and hourly compensation of American manufacturing production workers. They resembled conditional labour supply functions. Increases in employment substituted for reductions in hours per worker. The implied elasticities of hours and employment with respect to hourly earnings declined in absolute value over time. The activities of trade unions and the effects of statutory legislation contribute to the explanations for what is observed. Recently, changes in real hourly earnings contribute little to understanding movements in hours of work and in employment of these workers

Compensation (psychology) · Earnings · Economics · Labour economics · Legislation · Political science · Production (economics) · Statutory law · Value (mathematics) · Work (physics) · Accounting · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Labor Movements and Unions · Law