TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Merz, Joachim
AU  - Osberg, Lars
        TI  - Keeping in Touch: A Benefit of Public Holidays
        PY  - 2006/Apr/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 2089
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp2089
        AB  - This paper argues that public holidays facilitate the co-ordination of leisure time but do not constrain the annual amount of leisure. Public holidays therefore have benefits both in the utility of leisure on holidays and (by enabling people to maintain social contacts more easily) in increasing the utility of leisure on normal weekdays and weekends. The paper uses the variation (13 to 17) in public holidays across German Länder and the German Time Use Survey of 2001-02 to show that public holidays have beneficial impacts on social life on normal weekdays and weekends. Since these benefits are additional to the other benefits of holidays, it suggests that there is a case to be made for more public holidays. 
        KW  - time use diaries
KW  - time allocation
KW  - social leisure time
KW  - social contacts
KW  - public holidays
KW  - German Time Budget Survey 2001/02
        ER  -