Work and Leisure:

A History of Ideas
Yoram Weiss, Journal of Labor Economics, 2009, vol. 27, no.1

Presenter: Mai Anh Linh

What is work?
Why do we do it?
 Definition

Work &
Social Productivity
concerns
Work &
leisure

Work & Employment

Family relationship
 Definition

Work &
Social Productivity
concerns
Work &
leisure

Work & Employment

Family relationship
 Definition

Work Leisure
Cleaning
Hunting
Collecting debts
Playing games

Do you enjoy doing those activities?

 Adam Smith

Hume

Becker
(1965)
Marshall
(1920)
Jevons (1871) Multidimen-
Painful sional
exertion of package
Aristotle
mind or body
A means to
Any time
obtain leisure
Bible activity that a
Undesirable person sell at
but necessary a positive
condition for wage
survival
 Paid work, which may or may not be enjoyable, give
self-respect, provide relationship and monetary income.
 Unpaid ʻwork’, such as house-cleaning, shopping,
childcare, gardening;
 Paid work may be more enjoyable than some unpaid
activities;
 A given activity can be a pure pleasure, or a tiresome
duty, or a means of earning money.
 Being unemployed, or involuntary leisure, which may
generate feelings of bitterness;
 Leisure activities of a valued kind – they may require
learning and skill
 Definition

Work &
Social Productivity
concerns
Work &
leisure

Work & Employment

Family relationship
 Tullock (1967),
Baumol (1990)
Marx (1867) Rent seeking
Any creation
of surplus
Mill (1844) value
Acquisition of
Skills is
Smith (1776) productive
Productive –
stored and
Plato redistributed
Using division Unproductive
of labor, a - perished
group can
produce more
 Definition

Work &
Social Productivity
concerns
Work &
leisure

Work & Employment

Family relationship
Employment relationship

Worker sells his work but he himself remains his

own property – Marshall (1920)
The employment relationship requires some
forms of contracting that specifies the level of
monitoring and the various incentives to exert
effort (Zerubavel, 1981)
Employers usually have the upper hand
Unskilled workers are at disadvantage
Technological effect

Marx (1867)
Workers are at permeant disadvantage
Wages are kept at minimum
Dehumanizing impact of the factory system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdvEGPt4s0Y
Technological effect

Lindbeck & Snower (2000)

Improve working conditions
Contribute more to the development of new
product
Creating new jobs
Self-employment to avoid control by others
 Definition

Work &
Social Productivity
concerns
Work &
leisure

Employment
Work & Family
relationship
Traditional Men works outsides Woman works at home
(Bible)

Modern Reduced market work Increased market work

(Aguiar &
Hurst, 2007)

 Work pattern of men and women have become more similar

 Men and women have increased their leisure in similar manner

What changed?

Social equality
Education
Gain economic independence
Family cooperation and conflict
 Definition

Work & Social

Productivity
concerns

Work &
leisure

Work & Employment

Family relationship
The willingness of each person to exert effort or
to consume leisure depends on the choices of
others in a preference group
Dimensions?
Effect to efficiency?
Effect to choices of work and leisure?
Dimensions

Technological interactions
Fairness
Statues
Reciprocity
…
Effect to efficiency

Social concerns may or may not increase

efficiency (Hicks, 1963)
Effect to choices of work and leisure

Social norms often influence choices of work

and leisure
Jewish & Christian: work is to some extend a moral
obligation
Thank you very much!