Shiftwork, Adjustment Costs and Uncertainty

Maoz, Yishay

doi:10.2139/ssrn.315486

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Shiftwork, Adjustment Costs and Uncertainty

University of Haifa Department of Economics Working Paper No. UH02-01

21 Pages Posted: 12 Jun 2002

See all articles by Yishay Maoz

Yishay Maoz

The Open University of Israel - Department of Management and Economics

Date Written: February 2002

Abstract

I study the dynamics of shiftwork when the demand for the output of the firm is stochastic and adjusting the number of shifts entails irreversible costs. The analysis reveals the existence of a gap between the level of demand that triggers activation of a shift and the level of demand that triggers shutting off this shift. The higher the uncertainty about future demand, the wider this gap. I use plant level data to demonstrate this gap. I also analyze in detail the pro-cyclical labor productivity created by the use of shiftwork.

Keywords: Shiftwork, Adjustment Costs, Uncertainty

JEL Classification: D24, D81, J21, J39

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Maoz, Yishay, Shiftwork, Adjustment Costs and Uncertainty (February 2002). University of Haifa Department of Economics Working Paper No. UH02-01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=315486 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.315486