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15 Indus. & Lab. Rel. Rev. 307 (1961-1962)
Shorter Hours - In Theory and Practice

handle is hein.journals/ialrr15 and id is 305 raw text is: SHORTER HOURS-IN THEORY AND PRACTICE CLYDE E. DANKERT T HIS article examines a number of theoretical and applied issues con- cerning the length of the workday and workweek. Specifically, three distinct, but interrelated, objectives toward which 'hour policy' might be directed are dis- cussed; namely, the maximization of the physical output of industry, the maximiza- tion of worker satisfactions, and the maxi- mization of employer profits. An exami- nation of these three objectives will direct our attention to some of the most impor- tant aspects of the problem of shorter hours, a problem which in recent years- and largely as a result of automation- has aroused widespread interest.' THE OUTPUT OPTIMUM The relationship between hours of Buttressed by a resolution of the AFL-CIO, at its recent annual convention in December 1961, an increasing number of unions are like- ly in the near future to press hard for a re- duction in hours. Indeed, this issue has already appeared in negotiations-for example, in the New York City local transit and building trades industries-and is likely to be among the major demands of the union in the forth- coming bargaining in basic steel. In principle at least, bargaining over this issue is compli- cated by the absence of a common standard for measuring the effects of changes in the length of the workweek. As the discussion in this ar- ticle brings out, there are at least three con- ceptually different measures of the 'optimal' workweek, depending on whether the frame of reference is the employer, the individual work- er, or the economy as a whole. The author also discusses a rule by which a choice might be made among the different hours optima. This is the author's first appearance in this journal. For some time, he has been engaged in a study of the economic and historical as- pects of shorter hours and increased leisure. Clyde E. Dankert is professor of economics, Dartmouth College.-EDITOR work and the physical output of indus- try is of great significance at all times, but the policy aspects may vary with cir- cumstances. During periods of war, par- ticularly if the wars are major conflicts, the paramount aim of national economic policy should be to increase the produc- tion of the implements of war and of such non-war goods as have a favorable bearing on the war effort. During such periods, therefore, a very practical ques- tion to ask is: What length of the work- week (or workday) will result in the largest possible production? Barring crises, however, we may ask, in the termi- nology of J. R. Hicks,2 the more general question: What is the 'output optimum' length of the work period? Before proceeding to a detailed analysis of the output optimum concept, it would be well to illustrate its general nature. This is done in Figure 1. The figure, it will be noted, has two curves, one relating to output per hour and the other to total output per week (the length of the work period we are here presupposing). The output optimum length of the workweek is found where the latter output is at a maximum. Thus, in our hypothetical illus- tration, the optimum is OB hours. In a general way, Figure 1 shows what happens to both of the output quantities just mentioned as hours are altered. For 'No small amount of this interest has cen- tered on shorter hours as a means for coping with technological and other types of structural unemployment, an aspect which will not be dis- cussed at any length here, however. 'Hicks, The Theory of Wages (London: Macmillan and Co., 1932), pp. 105-106.

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