ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses whether it could be possible to improve economic performance in industrial and other production if working hours per employee are reduced without reducing the pay of employees. It explores how to use the production economy or the theory of the economies of scale to reduce working hours with full pay in order to improve the economy at the micro level. One step toward a solution could be to combine a reduction in working hours while maintaining the same level of pay and increasing operation times. The decisions on reducing working hours were sometimes seen as measures designed to get more people into the labour market. The use of overtime helps to restrict the creation of new employment. Overtime gives more economic resources to those who already have a job while locking out the unemployed. The over-use of overtime is an indication of shortcomings in the system of production and distribution of working-hours.
