Researchers: Ming-Chang Tsai (Academia Sinica, Taiwan) Michio Nitta (Kokushikan University, Japan) Sang-Wook Kim (Sungkyunkwan University, Korea) Wei-Dong Wang (Renmin University, China)

Abstract:

Working long hours has been a routinized part of life in East Asia. The different patterns of overtime across this region are understudied, however. This study represents a first systematic attempt to anatomize overtime and its determinants in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China by testing hypotheses that specify the distinctive influences of employment status and job contracts on work hours. The class exploitation, post-industrialism, and flexibility theories are mobilized to identify distinctive but supplementary factors in long working hours. Using data from a recent four-country survey, a Tobit regression analysis of full- time workers’ hours reveals that employers and self-employed people work longer hours than hired workers across this region. Despite this convergence, there is a contrast across occupations. In Japan, overtime is positively associated with occupational prestige, while a reverse pattern operates in China, where low-skilled workers work more overtime. Contract workers in the private sector in South Korea and China also have longer overtime when compared to public sector employees. In sum, this study highlights more divergence than convergence of working conditions within East Asia.

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