On Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 4:56 AM, Laurent GUERBY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On this topic, do you know of worthwhile analysis of the switch > to 35 hours workweek in France around 2000?
It depends what you mean by "worthwhile". There were studies, including by the government and by independent researchers showing moderate employment gains (300,000). However, it is impossible to say whether those gains resulted from the 35-hour week or from a cyclical expansion.Correlation is not causation. Equally, it is impossible to say if even more jobs were "preserved" through avoidance of layoffs. Sometimes "no change" is actually an improvement! Whether or not one attributes those job gains to the 35-hour policy depends on what assumptions you build into your model. You should be able to find those studies yourself, using Google and a few restrictive search terms, like "econometric" and "aubry". I will recommend Anders Hayden's article in Politics and Society, "France's 35-Hour Week: Attack on Business? Win-Win Reform? Or Betrayal of Disadvantaged Workers?" (Vol. 34, No. 4, 503-542 (2006)) because Anders is my friend and knows his shorter work time stuff. The operative phrase is "qualified success." http://intl-pas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/4/503 Here's the abstract: "France's 35-hour workweek is one of the boldest progressive reforms in recent years. Drawing on existing survey and economic data, supplemented by interviews with French informants, this article examines the 35-hour week's evolution and impacts. Although commonly dismissed as economically uncompetitive, the policy package succeeded in avoiding significant labor-cost increases for business. Most 35-hour employees cite quality-of-life improvements despite the fact that wage moderation, greater variability in schedules, and intensification of work negatively impacted some—mostly lower-paid and less-skilled—workers. Taking into account employment gains, the initiative can be considered a qualified success in meeting its main aims." -- Sandwichman _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
