Desired work-leisure balance in a partial equilibrium job search model with multiple job holding

Abstract

Abstract Work-leisure balances are beneficial to society. A partial equilibrium job search model is developed to explain desired work-leisure tradeoffs for single-job holders and multiple-job holders. Significant work-leisure mismatches are found: 63% of the observations underwork by an average of 17 hours per week, while 37% overwork by 8.5 hours. The value of leisure is approximately four times the average hourly real wage when a single job is held, and it drops by one-third when multiple jobs are held. Models ignoring possibilities of multiple jobholding overstate the elasticity of leisure and understate the value of leisure.