Previous research hypothesizes that long working hours are related to consumerism, the ideal
worker norm, high levels of human capital, and a high cost-of-job-loss. The authors test these
hypotheses using panel data on working hours for an Australian sample of full-time
employed workers. Analyses include a static cross-sectional model and a persistence model
for long hours over time. The results suggest that long hours (50 or more hours in a usual
week) are often persistent, and provide strongest support for the consumerism hypothesis,
with some support for the ideal worker norm and human capital hypotheses, and no support
for the cost-of-job-loss hypothesis. Other results are consistent with a backward-bending
supply of long hours, and with multiple job holders and the self-employed working long
hours.