Does the Global Economy Mean More Sweat?: Trade, Investment, Migration and Working Hours in Europe

Abstract:     
This paper investigates how international trade, investment, and migration affect establishment-level standard weekly hours in Europe. These aspects of globalization have offsetting implications that make it unclear whether it spurs, reduces, or has little net effect on standard hours. To explore these possibilities, the paper analyzes a survey of a large sample of establishments in eighteen European countries. The analysis reveals and explains significant diversity in how different “faces” of globalization affect weekly hours. Establishments in sectors facing more trade and investment tend to have neither shorter nor longer work weeks. But those in net import-competing sectors and having more foreign-born employees tend to have higher standard hours than other enterprises. Finally, collective bargaining over working hours may mediate the effects of globalization, particularly trade: establishments without collective-bargaining agreements increase their standard hours in response to trade, while those establishments with such agreements are less likely to so respond.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 33

Keywords: globalization, time, labor markets, migration, trade, collective bargaining

JEL Classification: F59, F15, J22

working papers series