The Responses of Overtime Workers to a Work-Style Reform: A Behavioral Economics View

Abstract

This study investigates the behavioral economic traits of overtime workers. A survey is conducted on the various preferences and personality traits of workers in a private firm A, and the firm provides personnel records on their working hours to us. The study also evaluates the firm's work-style reform. The firm recently set a target for the total overtime hours per worker per month to not exceed 45 hours. In addition workers are allowed to freely choose when and where they work by themselves after the reform. We find through the empirical analysis of the data provided that the workers' overtime before the reform is explained by the following behavioral economic traits: (1) Workers who had a habit of procrastination in childhood tend to work longer in midnight, (2) egalitarian workers tend to work longer in total, and (3) workers who have a high score of conscientiousness tend to work shorter in midnight but longer in total. Implementing the work-style reform leads to a significant decrease in overtime hours of workers who used to work over 45 hours per month preceding the reform.