Kozminski University Finance Research Seminar - Social Jetlag and Knowledge Worker Performance

We would like to invite all enthusiasts and finance researchers to the February 2024 Kozminski University Finance Research Seminar - Social Jetlag and Knowledge Worker Performance

When? Wednesday, 28 February 2024, 5:15 PM (CET)

Online event - Microsoft Teams (MS Teams link will be sent following registration below)

ABSTRACT:

We study how a misalignment between the circadian rhythm -- the internal process that regulates the sleep–wake cycle -- and social schedules affects the performance of high skilled knowledge workers. Using data from GitHub, the world’s largest code hosting platform, we measure hourly and daily output of 40,000 software developers and classify them into morning- and evening-types based on their temporal activity profiles. We find that on average morning-types outperform evening-types.  We also identify with whom developers collaborate on shared projects and document that they adjust their activity times in order to synchronize with collaborators in other time zones. When developers have incentives to deviate from their natural rhythms in order to synchronize, their output falls. Using a regression discontinuity design, we also show that after the spring transition from standard time into daylight saving time, which implies a discrepancy between social clocks and solar time, developer output drops. Together, these findings imply that a misalignment between circadian rhythm and social schedules impairs knowledge worker performance.