Shorter Working Time: A Study of the Utilization and Consumption of Time

Abstract

European workers work less hours per year than their American counterparts and consume fewer resources per worker. This article compares the labor efficiency, supply, and energy use models of the European and U.S. It finds that jobs in the EU-15 would use at least 15 percent more electricity if they worked as many hours as those in the United States. This part of the European economic model controversy has reached a global dimension. Developing countries will determine over the coming decades how to make use of their rising competitiveness. If the environment operates as Americans do by 2050, overall energy demand could be 15 to 30 percent higher than if a more European approach were to be adopted. Translated literally into higher carbon levels, this could mean further global warming of 1 to 2 degrees Celsius.