Female Labour Supply, Flexibility of Working Hours, and Job Mobility

Traditional labour supply models do not address to what extent working hours are constrained within jobs, and to what extent working hours can be adjusted by means of changing employer. This paper measures the flexibility of working hours within and between jobs by relating subjective information on individual preferences to adjustments in working hours. Empirical analysis based on a sample of employed women in the Dutch Socio‐Economic Panel (1987–9) shows that the flexibility of working hours within jobs is low.