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Session 4 Labor Market

Factors of production include labor, land, physical capital, and human capital. The demand for labor depends on a worker's productivity and marginal product of labor. Labor demand decreases as more workers are hired because of diminishing marginal product. A firm hires workers up to the point where the value of marginal product equals the wage. Labor supply depends on the tradeoff between work and leisure and responds to changes in opportunity cost. The intersection of labor demand and supply determines equilibrium wage and employment levels.

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43 views

Session 4 Labor Market

Factors of production include labor, land, physical capital, and human capital. The demand for labor depends on a worker's productivity and marginal product of labor. Labor demand decreases as more workers are hired because of diminishing marginal product. A firm hires workers up to the point where the value of marginal product equals the wage. Labor supply depends on the tradeoff between work and leisure and responds to changes in opportunity cost. The intersection of labor demand and supply determines equilibrium wage and employment levels.

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qsty2wpcjs
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Factors of production : inputs used to produce goods and services (output)

 Labor, Land, Physical Capital, Human Capital (including education, health


and entrepreneurships) are the most important factors of production.

The demand for labor is based on the worker’s productivity= marginal product
of labor = marginal product of the labor * market price of good.= the additional
output produced by an additional unit of labor

It decreases as the nb of workers rises bc the market price of the good is


constant and the marginal product of labor falls
 Diminishing marginal product of labor: as the numbers of workers
increases holding capital and labor constant, the marginal product of
labor declines => if more workers are hired, each additional worker
contributes less to production than the prior one.

Labor Demand curve= labor demand curve for competitive firm => determines
how many workers a firm is willing to hire at each wage level

- The slope is determined by:


 substitutability of labor (is labor easily substituted with capital =>
demand for labor tends to be more elastic)
 Time horizon (demand may be more inelastic in the short run)
 Market competition (highly competitive market => high adjustments on
wages => more elastic demand)

- Shfits:
 Output price: if price increase, the marginal product increases => shift to
the right
 Changes in taxes or subsidies: affect the cost of employing labor
 Technological change: raises the marginal product of labor (workers
more productive) => shift to the right

Wage (marginal cost) = VMPL (marginal revenue) => profit-maximizing firm


hires workers up to the point where the value of the marginal product of labor
(VMPL) equals the nominal wage (marginal cost).
Labor Supply curve =>how workers decide about the labor-leisure trade-off =>
responds to changes in the opportunity cost of leisure => the curve depends on
the income (income increases so less work supply) and substitution effects
(wages increases so opportunity cost of leisure rise => more labor supply)
 The final impact depends on which effect is dominant

On aggregate (total), the substitution effect is stronger than the net income
effect => upward-sloping aggregate labor supply curve

Elasticity of Labour supply depends on


- Geographical mobility of labor.
 Limited by Homeownership (high in Spain in Italy)
 Uncertainty Avoidance: moving to another countries involves significant
levels of uncertainty: Homeownerships and Uncertainty Avoidance are
strongly associated
 Occupational mobility= ability of workers to switch career fields: strongly
correlated with geographical mobility

Shifts of labor supply curve:

- Changes in alternative opportunities/income


- Generosity of the welfare system/unemployment benefits
- Immigration or demographic changes
- Changes in workforce regulations
- Social and cultural factors

Equilibrium in the labor market : Labor supply and demand determine the
equilibrium between wage and labor

Increase in nb of immigrants => supply curve shifts to the right => labor
increases and wage decreases

Improvement in Technology => demand curve shifts to the right (more


productive workers) => wages increase and labor increases

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