As we mentioned in the previous chapter, the individual-country results do not shed much light on one issue, namely, the existence of an inverse relationship between the level of the shift differentials and shift-work (Proposition 3). Our within-country analysis provides no information on this relationship because of the absence of direct information on these differentials. Nevertheless, the analysis of intercountry differences in shift-work will allow us to overcome to some degree this absence of information and to provide indirect evidence on the existence of such a relationship. Moreover, this analysis will also broaden the scope of our inquiry. From the confines of the causes of shift-work in the context of the theory of the firm, we move into the realm of the implications of shift-work for the firm and the economy.

A useful starting point in our present endeavor is a brief discussion of the existing literature on capital utilization and the level of economic development (Section 8.1). This discussion sets the stage for the econometric analysis of differences in shift-work among the countries in our UNIDO data (Section 8.2); moreover, it also provides the setting for a review of the available evidence on the extent and main characteristics of shift-work in various countries (Section 8.3). Our concluding remarks (Section 8.4) highlight several issues raised by the results in this chapter. These issues will be taken up in Part IV.