11. Labor supply - working hours

The supply of labor input will also increase if working hours increase. An increase in working hours raises employment in terms of hours and in the short run it reduces the number of workers employed. Table 11 presents the effect of a permanent 1 percent increase in working hours. (See experiment)

 

Table 11. The effect of a permanent increase in working hours

    1. yr 2. yr 3. yr 4. yr 5. yr 10. yr 15. yr 20. yr 25. yr 30. yr
    Million 2010-Dkr.
Priv. consumption fCp 780 1465 3128 4103 4606 3486 1075 -277 -522 -117
Pub. consumption fCo -56 -57 -56 -55 -54 -48 -44 -44 -47 -51
Investment fI 602 1641 3109 4303 4939 5022 3735 3303 3646 4229
Export fE 675 1820 3174 4619 6163 13877 19958 24195 26959 28671
Import fM 498 1170 2415 3290 3787 4576 4818 5492 6405 7254
GDP fY 1498 3678 6831 9516 11633 17246 19194 20834 22677 24448
    1000 Persons
Employment Q -25,19 -22,85 -19,56 -16,22 -13,20 -3,63 -0,42 0,82 1,46 1,53
Unemployment Ul 13,62 11,41 9,71 8,03 6,52 1,78 0,20 -0,42 -0,74 -0,77
    Percent of GDP
Pub. budget balance Tfn_o/Y -0,13 -0,09 -0,16 -0,03 0,08 0,33 0,40 0,44 0,50 0,56
Priv. saving surplus Tfn_hc/Y 0,10 0,04 0,06 -0,09 -0,18 -0,25 -0,10 0,00 0,02 0,02
Balance of payments Enl/Y -0,02 -0,05 -0,10 -0,12 -0,11 0,08 0,30 0,44 0,53 0,58
Foreign receivables Wnnb_e/Y 0,05 0,12 0,09 0,02 -0,03 0,21 1,37 3,05 4,89 6,70
Bond debt Wbd_os_z/Y 0,13 0,23 0,38 0,39 0,32 -0,81 -2,27 -3,70 -5,14 -6,61
    Percent
Capital intensity fKn/fX -0,07 -0,17 -0,30 -0,39 -0,45 -0,50 -0,49 -0,54 -0,58 -0,59
Labour intensity hq/fX -0,03 -0,07 -0,11 -0,13 -0,13 -0,07 -0,03 -0,02 -0,01 0,00
User cost uim -0,12 -0,28 -0,43 -0,54 -0,65 -0,97 -1,09 -1,12 -1,11 -1,06
Wage lna -0,27 -0,75 -1,15 -1,45 -1,71 -2,39 -2,57 -2,56 -2,47 -2,34
Consumption price pcp -0,11 -0,27 -0,42 -0,54 -0,65 -1,02 -1,20 -1,28 -1,30 -1,27
Terms of trade bpe -0,08 -0,18 -0,28 -0,36 -0,42 -0,64 -0,72 -0,73 -0,72 -0,69
    Percentage-point
Consumption ratio bcp -0,11 -0,08 -0,13 -0,02 0,06 0,10 -0,04 -0,15 -0,19 -0,20
Wage share byw -0,09 -0,23 -0,34 -0,41 -0,45 -0,48 -0,43 -0,38 -0,33 -0,28

(See details)

 

When working hours of existing workers increase potential production increases immediately. Compared to the previous experiment the initial reaction via the production function is stronger in the present experiment because the working hours of already employed people increases. In the short run, there is no change in demand, so layoffs are inevitable and employment falls. The rise in unemployment dampens wages and competitiveness improves. Consequently, the wage-driven crowding out returns unemployment to the baseline in the long run. The wage relation in ADAM is a Phillips curve, which links the changes in wages to unemployment. A fall/rise in unemployment pushes wages and hence prices upward/downward and reduces/improves competitiveness. So exports and production decrease/increase and over time unemployment returns to its baseline. This is the wage-driven crowding out process.

 

The previous section 10 showed that private consumption falls in the long term when the positive shock to labor input is in number of workers. When working hours increase, there is no fall in private consumption in the long run. Public transfer income is adjusted with the income per worker. Thus, the fall in total real income is smaller than in the previous experiment because the real income of public transfer earners is adjusted upwards with the number of working hours per employed. Transfer income is not adjusted with the number of employed. In this way, the different impact on consumption in experiment 10 and 11 reflects the institutional setup. The marginal increase in disposable income is not enough to raise private consumption in the long run as there is also a fall in real wealth due to a fall in housing wealth. The higher investment raises imports in the long run.

 

There is a positive effect on the public budget in the long run, because the fall in public expenses is larger than the fall in revenues. Personal income taxes do not fall as much as annual incomes, as the higher working hours offset the fall in annual incomes. Corporate taxes also increase due to the increase in profits. Indirect taxes also contribute to revenue. However, the positive long term effect on the public budget is smaller than in experiment 10 due to the indexation of public transfers.

 

Figure 11. The effect of a permanent 1 percent increase in working hours

 

fig_11_1_zoom38fig_11_2_zoom38

 

 

fig_11_3_zoom38fig_11_4_zoom38

 

 

fig_11_5_zoom38fig_11_6_zoom38

 

 

fig_11_7_zoom38fig_11_8_zoom38