Tyler Smith
In recent years, companies and legislators have begun exploring a four-day workweek, which, if adopted, would be the biggest change since the 40-hour workweek became the norm during the Great Depression.
In July of 1933, the Roosevelt administration introduced the President’s Reemployment Agreement (PRA) to encourage work sharing with the goal of increasing employment overall. Price Fishback, Chris Vickers, and Nicolas L. Ziebarth studied the effects of the PRA in a paper in the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics and found that employment rose significantly in the month following its adoption.
The PRA allowed companies to show their “business patriotism” by adhering to it in exchange for the right to display the Blue Eagle symbol of the National Recovery Administration. Through radio broadcasts, community gatherings, and door-to-door canvassing, the administration encouraged the nation’s consumers to shop only at firms displaying the Blue Eagle, which made it difficult for firms to say no. The drive resulted in nearly 9 out of 10 establishments signing the PRA within a couple of months of its introduction.
Πηγή: www.aeaweb.org