In this paper we propose a systematic way of examining the importance of the extensive and the intensive margins of labor supply in order to explain the overall movements in total hours of work over time. We show how informative bounds can be developed on each of these margins. We apply this analysis to the evolution of hours of work in the US, the UK, and France and show that both the extensive and intensive margins matter in explaining changes in total hours.
Figures. Employment rate, and Mean annual hours per worker
Authors
CPP Co-Director
Richard is Co-Director of the Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy (CPP) and Senior Research Fellow at IFS.
Guy Laroque
Research Fellow Paris School of Economics
Antoine is a Research Fellow, an Associate Professor at the EHESS, and Director of the Institut des Politiques Publiques (IPP) in Paris.
Journal article details
- DOI
- 10.1257/aer.101.3.482
- Publisher
- American Economic Association
- JEL
- J22
- Issue
- May 2011
Suggested citation
R, Blundell and A, Bozio and G, Laroque. (2011). 'Labor supply and the extensive margin' (2011)
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