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Monday, October 24, 2011

Play Hard, Shirk Hard? The Effect of Bar Hours Regulation on Absence




How government taxation and transfer policy influence labour supply behavior is well understood. Governments also
regulate the timing and extent of leisure activity which may also influence labor-leisure decisions. Legislative changes in bar opening hours provide a potential quasi-natural experiment of the effect of government regulation on working effort.

This
paper examines two recent policy changes, one in England/Wales and one in Spain that increased and decreased opening hours, respectively.

A robust positive causal link between opening hours and absence is demonstrated. Further evidence is
provided that longer opening hours cause poorer health outcomes, particularly amongst regular bar attendees.

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