|
hours worked & hours
overworked
I was puzzled with the graph on the growth in
hours worked (The Economist, February 3rd-9th 2007; see the
chart on the right). Yes, for each particular country it exposes
the change for the two time periods but what is behind the change:
does an increase in ‘hours worked’ means that a particular
country put more people to work and/or to work longer hours? What
if some people work less because they are more productive?
Moreover, the chart presents a selection of counties, and not a
random selection I believe. How should I read the differences
among the countries? The percentage changes plotted on the chart
are relative to each country, there is no common reference.
Besides, is there a direct relationship between hours worked and
any of the economic values? |
|
Should I look for the people who work less but keep
their economic growth steady because they are more skilled and/or work
with higher capital? The graph below relates changes
in hours worked with the changes in real GDP (i.e. growth of gross
domestic product valued at a specific year's prices). And yes, hours
worked are not by themselves a determining factor of economic well-being
although they are more important in weaker and start-up capitalistic
economies.
|
|
|