Future of Work

This is how shorter working hours can affect your productivity

A person sitting at his work laptop.

Japan, a country long known for its long working hours and high levels of job security, offers an ideal area for the study. Image: Unsplash/Wes Hicks

Ruo Shangguan
Adjunct Researcher, Institute for Empirical Research in Organizational Economics, Waseda University
Jed DeVaro
The Wang Family Professor, Departments of Management and Economics, California State University East Bay
Hideo Owan
Professor, School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University; Faculty Fellow, RIETI
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 Average monthly overtime hours, 2004~2016
The average monthly overtime hours has varied significantly between 2004 and 2016. Image: VoxEU
Team-level average productivity, 2004~2013
Analysis shows that overtime caused the productivity decline, rather than vice versa. Image: VoxEU

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