The Part-Time Productivity Gap : Experimental Evidence from a Large-Scale Recruitment Drive

This paper examines how self-selection shapes the quality of applicant pools for part-time work relative to full-time work. In a large-scale recruitment drive for data-entry workers in Ethiopia, we implemented a field experiment that randomly offers either a part- or full-time job opportunity. Consistent with a theoretical model we develop, we show that the part-time work arrangement attracts applicants with lower job-specific ability, who exhibit lower initial productivity at work as measured by error-adjusted data-entry speed. These differences are more pronounced for higher-performing applicants. Our results have implications for the wage-hour relation, alternative work arrangements, and gender pay gaps