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WHY DO EUROPEANS WORK SO LITTLE? *
Author(s) -
Olovsson Conny
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
international economic review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.658
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1468-2354
pISSN - 0020-6598
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2354.2008.00523.x
Subject(s) - work (physics) , economics , labour economics , production (economics) , elasticity (physics) , work hours , demographic economics , microeconomics , working hours , engineering , mechanical engineering , materials science , composite material
Market work per person is roughly 10% higher in the United States than in Sweden. However, if we include the work carried out in home production, the total amount of work only differs by 1%. I set up a model and show that differences in policy—mainly taxes—can account for the discrepancy in both labor supply and home production between Sweden and the United States. These results are independent of the elasticity of labor supply.