Kaczmarczyk, P. and Bell, A. orcid.org/0000-0002-8268-5853 (2023) Preferences for work and leisure: is labour supply a function of what workers prefer? Momentum Quarterly, 11 (4). pp. 204-269. ISSN 2226-5538
Abstract
The assumption that utility maximisation determines individual employment outcomes and labour supply is central to neoclassical labour market theory and inspired a whole culture of leisure literature, which links the supply of labour to individual preferences. In this study, we use data from the World and European Value Surveys to test if individual preferences for work vs. leisure are related to employment outcomes. We employ a multilevel logit model to test this proposition on the extensive margin, i.e., the odds for a person to be in employment, and the intensive margin, i.e., the supply of labour (full time vs. part time). We find that there is no relationship between individual preferences and employment odds, neither on the extensive nor on the intensive margin. The effects of average country-level work-leisure-preferences are mixed. Overall, therefore, our study suggests that unemployment is an institutional issue, rather than an outcome of individual preferences.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Keywords: | employment; unemployment; utility maximisation; labour market; culture |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Oct 2022 15:45 |
Last Modified: | 02 Jun 2023 10:02 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Momentum - Verein für kritische Wissenschaft |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.15203/momentumquarterly.vol11.no4.p204-224 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:191353 |