A measure of concentration of the use of time, with an application to the pattern of daily leisure activities

Author
Jorge González Chapela

Keywords
Time allocation; Herfindahl-Hirschman index; IV estimation

Abstract
Drawing an analogy with industry concentration, a well-grounded measure of individual concentration (or specialization) of the use of time is presented. Equipped with this measure, we explain and provide evidence of a “division of leisure” effect on the organization of daily leisure activities. A demand model featuring subsistence daily leisure shows that the concentration of leisure can vary with the quantity of leisure available. Sequential moment conditions and the exogenous possibility of more leisure brought about by the weekend unveil an asymmetrically U-shaped response in a sample of employed German men.

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