Documents Pencavel, John H. 2 results

"The increase in the real wages of British workers over the last one hundred years is often attributed to the growth in labour productivity, but this has rarely been confirmed. In the research reported here, this ascription is confronted with annual observations on wages and productivity spanning more than a century. A positive wage-productivity link is, indeed, found. However, productivity growth alone removes little of the variation over time in real wage changes. When trade union membership was rising, unions were able to direct increases in incomes to the earnings of rank-and-file workers."

"This book concerns working hours - in the past and in the present, in America and in Britain. The focus is on the relationship between working hours and outcome , such as production and health. Proportional increases in working hours are shown to result in smaller proportional increases in production, and the benefits in output of long working hours may not offset the consequences of long hours for the health and quality of life of workers. A distinction is made between nominal hours (those that individuals are observed to be working) and effective hours (those that are effective in producing goods and that are compatible with good health). The meaning of the link between hours and average hourly earnings receives particular attention. Firms are encouraged to experiment with different hours.."