Hours Determination in the US Labor Market

This paper aims to implement a survey of firms and workers to study the way hours are determined in the US labor market. In particular, we will survey a nationally representative sample of 1,000 managers and 1,000 workers. A novel innovation of our study is that we conduct a dyad survey in which we interview both workers and their direct managers within the same firm, allowing us to study their interaction. This unique feature of the survey enables us to measure both parties’ preferences for and beliefs about the worker’s hours, and test how these demand and supply forces interact to determine actual hours worked.