Explaining the Growth of Part-Time Employment: Factors of Supply and Demand

Abstract:     
Using the Dutch Labour Force Survey 1991-2001, the authors investigate the incidence of part-time employment in the country with the highest part-time employment rate of the OECD countries. Women fulfill most part-time jobs, but nevertheless a considerable fraction of men works part-time as well. Evidence from descriptive statistics and a macro-econometric model at the sectoral level of industry suggests that the growth of part-time employment in the 1990s relates strongly to the growth in female labour force participation. Factors of labour demand, like the shift from manufacturing to services, turn out to play a significant role as well.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 26

Keywords: Labour demand, labour supply, part-time employment, panel data

JEL Classification: C33, J21, J23

working papers series