Policy insights

Policy Insights

Policy Insight 12: Why Do Americans Work More than Europeans? Differences in Career Prospects

Today Americans work much more than Europeans, while this was not the case back in the 1970s. Have Europeans developed a taste for leisure absent in Americans? Is consumerism more rooted in America than in Europe? Arguably not: differences in working time simply reflect differences in workers' incentives over their working life.

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Citation

Michelacci, C and J Pijoan-Mas (2007), Policy Insight 12: Why Do Americans Work More than Europeans? Differences in Career Prospects, CEPR Policy Insight No 12, CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/policy-insight-12-why-do-americans-work-more-europeans-differences-career-prospects