について調べた論文をEconomic Logicが紹介している。
以下はその要旨。
Are American workers less likely to observe a religious holiday now than they were 30 years ago? In this paper I use evidence from religious holidays to explore the evolution of market hours' flexibility and religious observance during the last thirty years. To do so, I take advantage of three different sources of exogenous variation: the first is the timing of the Current Population Survey, which allows me to observe data that is collected during different holidays in different years. The second is the timing of the religious holiday, as most are scheduled either with the lunar or the solar calendar. The third is the required observance of the holiday: in some holidays believers are called to abstain from work (Yom Kippur), in other holidays not (Tu b'Shevat), some holidays have been secularized (Saint Patrick's Day), and other holidays not (Good Friday). Additionally, I differentiate between any changes in hours of work during religious holidays across time and changes across cohorts. My results suggest that work schedules' flexibility has changed little during the sample period, yet less people are taking time off from work during Good Friday, while more people take time off from work during Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Mardigras and Saint Patrick's Day. These results are consistent with the increasing secularization of Christians in America, the Baal Teshuva movement among Jewish Americans, and the commercialization of Mardigras or Saint Patrick's Day. These results suggest a change in which holidays workers choose to observe.
（拙訳）
米国の労働者は30年前よりも宗教上の休日を守らなくなっているのだろうか？ 本論文では、宗教上の休日に関する実証結果を用いて、労働市場における労働時間の柔軟性と宗教の教義の遵守が過去30年間にどのように変化してきたかについて考察する。そのために、3つの相異なる外生的変動要因を利用する。一つは人口動態調査のタイミングであり、異なる年の異なる休日に集められたデータを観測することが可能になる*1。二つ目は、その多くが太陰暦もしくは太陽暦に従ってスケジュールされる宗教上の休日のタイミングである*2。三番目は、休日の遵守が義務化されているか否かである。信者は仕事を休むことが要求される休日もあれば（贖罪の日）、そうでない休日もある（樹木の新年）。世俗化してしまった休日もあれば（聖パトリックの祭日）、そうでない休日もある（聖金曜日）*3。その上で、宗教上の休日における労働時間の経時的変化やサンプル集団ごとの違いを測定した。分析対象期間において労働スケジュールの柔軟性はあまり変化しなかったが、聖金曜日に仕事を休む人は少なくなり、贖罪の日、ユダヤの正月、マルディグラ、聖パトリックの祭日に休む人は増えている。こうした結果は、米国でのキリスト教の世俗化、ユダヤ系米国人における正統的ユダヤ教への回帰の動き、マルディグラや聖パトリックの祭日の商業化と整合的である。これらの結果は、労働者がどの休日を教義に従って休むかに変化が起きていることを示唆している。
*1:本文の導入部ではこの点について以下のように説明している：
For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects data for the Current Population Survey (CPS, hereafter) every month during the week that includes the 19th day of each month, and the questions asked in the survey refer to the reference week which includes the 12th day of each month. Thanks to this design, when a religious holiday rotates across the Gregorian calendar, sometimes its celebration falls in the weekend (with little expected change on weekly hours of work) and sometimes on a weekday (where we would predict a change on hours of work if workers value celebrating the holiday).
*2:本文の導入部ではこの点について以下のように説明している：
Thanks to this variation, the holiday will fall on the reference week of the CPS in some years, and it will not fall on the reference week in the CPS in other years. Furthermore, some holidays will fall on different months across different years. This allows me to compare hours of work during the same calendar day, but in different years - some years with a holiday and some without - these comparisons are either for the same worker or for two demographically equivalent workers.
*3:本文の導入部ではこの点について以下のように説明している：
For example, empirically one would expect that the decrease of hours worked due to Yom Kippur would be greater than any decrease of hours during Tu b'Shevat, as the former holiday is a day where jewish workers are called to abstain from work for prayer and reflection, while no change in work hours is suggested during the latter Arbor Day.
