AN ECONOMIC-ANALYSIS OF THE WORK-SHARING PROPOSAL PUT FORWARD BY THE DANISH-GARBAGE-COLLECTORS-UNION

This paper considers a work sharing proposal originally put forward by the garbage collectors' union. The idea is that a group of employed w orkers share their work with an unemployed person, and further they al l share the total wage sum plus the unemployment benefits. The proposa l is analyzed within a model with wage bargaining in the labour market . Results are: (i) Higher activity in the sectors which introduce the work sharing arrangement, (ii) No bottleneck problems, (iii) Lower act ivity in the sectors which for economic or technical reasons do not in troduce the work sharing. The net effect on the level of activity is p ositive.