Workers

A bus driver chooses to work for more hours when the wage rate goes up. As his income rises, there comes a point at which he would rather have more leisure than continue working. Which supply curve, $S$, shows this situation?

May/June 2015

A trade union and employers set a minimum wage ($W_1$) that lies above the market equilibrium wage ($W$) for that industry. What effect does paying the minimum wage ($W_1$) have?

May/June 2015

When selecting an occupation, people often consider features of the job apart from pay. Which option would not be a suitable match for the features of employment a worker is seeking?

May/June 2015

Within the diagram, $D_1D_1$ and $S_1S_1$ show the demand for labour and the supply of labour. $W$ represents a legal minimum wage. An inflow of immigrant labour increases the supply of labour, so the supply curve moves from $S_1S_1$ to $S_2S_2$. How many people will be employed if the minimum wage legislation is then removed?

May/June 2016

Within the diagram, $D_1D_1$ and $S_1S_1$ show the demand for labour and the supply of labour respectively. $W$ denotes a legal minimum wage. An inflow of immigrant labour makes the labour supply curve move from $S_1S_1$ to $S_2S_2$. How many people will be employed if the minimum wage legislation is then abolished?

May/June 2016

The table illustrates how a firm's output varies as it hires additional workers. number of workers: 10, 20, 30, 40 total production (kilos): 50, 100, 300, 600 What occurs to productivity as the number of workers employed increases?

May/June 2017

In which kind of job are employees most likely to receive their highest income when they are still relatively young?

May/June 2017

In South Africa, the supply of skilled workers is comparatively small. Nevertheless, average wages in South Africa are twice the average wage in Brazil and Turkey, and they are $1.6$ times greater than in Malaysia. What can be concluded from this information?

May/June 2017

What is most likely to cause university lecturers’ wages to rise?

May/June 2018

The table presents units produced, value of output and the number of workers employed in an industry across three years. year 1: output $10$ (units, millions), output value $10$ ($\$ millions$), number employed $5$ (000) year 2: output $21$, output value $25$, number employed $7$ year 3: output $32$, output value $40$, number employed $8$ What conclusion can be drawn from the table?

May/June 2018

What is likely to raise the wages of airline pilots?

May/June 2018

Over $80\%$ of Qatar’s population are immigrants. Net immigration has helped satisfy the country’s demand for labour. Alongside the shortage of workers, the country also lacks drinking water. The government has launched public campaigns to stop people using their free supply of drinking water to fill swimming pools and water their gardens. In 2016, government spending was raised in order to increase the country’s economic growth rate.

May/June 2018

The table presents how real incomes changed for several occupations from 1985 to 2015. What can be concluded from the table?

May/June 2019

Carlos has been given a new role at a large multinational company. He is unsure whether to take the job. What non-wage factor might he take into account?

May/June 2019

The table illustrates how real incomes changed for several occupations between 1985 and 2015. What conclusion can be drawn from the table?

May/June 2019

At the beginning of February 2017, the Japanese government launched its ‘Premium Friday’ scheme. Under this policy, employers are encouraged to let workers leave at 15:00 on the final Friday of each month without any reduction in pay. The Japanese government wants people to work fewer hours. One aim is to improve workers’ health and possibly their productivity. Fig. 1.1 shows average hours worked and productivity (GDP per hour worked in US $) in six selected countries. Almost one quarter of Japanese workers work more than 50 hours a week, and some do more than 25 hours overtime a week. The average Japanese worker uses only half of their paid holidays. Nearly 20 years of low economic growth and deflation have created a feeling of job insecurity. Trade unions in Japan have been focusing on trying to secure shorter working hours. The government believes that fewer working hours would give people more time to bring up a child and care for elderly relatives. Japan’s birth rate has dropped every year for the last 36 years, and it has fallen faster than the death rate, leading to a smaller population. The government hopes that extra leisure time will encourage higher consumer spending. Greater consumer spending would support Japanese firms and reduce the risk of deflation returning. The first reaction to Premium Friday was disappointing. By the end of February 2017, only 4% of Japanese workers left early. In the longer term, however, the scheme may prove more successful. This is because unemployment in the country had fallen, with only 2 million out of a labour force of 66 million being unemployed at the end of February 2017. Low unemployment increases job security and usually pushes wages up. In Japan’s case, however, the higher demand for labour has been matched by a larger supply. Some of this extra supply has come from migrant workers, but a greater share has come from more Japanese people working beyond retirement age and more women joining the workforce.

May/June 2019

In low-income countries, a smaller number of girls than boys go on to become skilled design engineers. What could account for this situation?

May/June 2021

The diagram illustrates the demand for labour and the supply of labour in an industry. The original equilibrium is X. A trade union then negotiates a wage rate of W. Which option shows the change in employment?

May/June 2021

The table shows how employment was distributed across selected industries in two years. In what way did the employment distribution differ between year 1 and year 2?

May/June 2021

What is one drawback of specialisation for a worker?

May/June 2021

The diagram represents a labour market. X marks the initial equilibrium. A trade union secures a minimum wage at $W$, and the government limits the supply of immigrant labour. What is the resulting equilibrium?

May/June 2021

The table shows how employment was distributed across selected industries in two different years. In what ways did the employment distribution alter from year 1 to year 2?

May/June 2021

What is most likely to lead to an immediate fall in the size of the labour force?

May/June 2022

Which event is most likely to lead to an immediate fall in the size of the labour force?

May/June 2022

In one firm, a worker receives a higher wage than another worker. Which possible reason for this wage difference could count as discrimination?

May/June 2024

The diagram illustrates the labour demand and supply curves for a firm. The starting wage rate is shown as $W_0$, and the equilibrium quantity of labour employed is $L_0$. A trade union representing all workers secures a higher wage rate of $W_1$. What is the size of the unemployment created by this rise in wages?

May/June 2024

Introducing a minimum hourly wage in an industry is meant to lower poverty among workers on low pay. What benefit would workers get from an effective national minimum wage?

May/June 2024

The diagrams illustrate the wage rates for cleaners (OWc) and nurses (OWn). What happens if a national minimum wage of OM is brought in?

May/June 2024

In recent years, labour mobility, the number of women in the labour force and GDP have all increased in Bangladesh. In 2019, Bangladesh’s central bank approved three additional commercial banks. In that year, women on average earned $77\%$ of men’s pay in Bangladesh. The country’s economy recorded the world’s seventh highest economic growth rate, with GDP rising by $7.4\%$.

May/June 2024

What is likely to make the occupational mobility of labour greater?

May/June 2025

When the wage rate rises, a bus driver at first chooses to work longer hours. Once his income grows, a point is reached where he values additional leisure more than taking on extra work. Which supply curve, $S$, illustrates this situation?

May/June 2025

The table gives the mean wage in four countries, A, B, C and D. In which country is relative wage discrimination against female employees the highest?

May/June 2025

Sanjay, who worked as a coal miner, lost his job when the only mine in the area shut down. He lives in a village close to his family and friends, and he wants to remain in that same village. What is the reason for Sanjay’s occupational immobility?

May/June 2025

At the beginning of 2023, the world’s four biggest accountancy firms saw demand for their services fall. One reason for this weaker demand was a fall in mergers in other industries, including the chocolate industry. Three of the accountancy firms cut back on the number of new workers they hired, and the remaining accountancy firm announced job losses. How easily workers can move into new jobs is affected by their mobility.

May/June 2025

A worker’s wage rate is cut. Which set of job features is most likely to make the worker remain in the job?

Oct/Nov 2015

The share of workers in employment differs across industries and also between developing and developed economies. Which option in the table is most likely to show the highest percentage of workers employed?

Oct/Nov 2015

Workers in car assembly generally receive higher pay than people working in agriculture. What could account for this?

Oct/Nov 2015

Even though office-based work often offers higher pay, many workers remain in low-paid farm jobs. What could account for this in developing economies?

Oct/Nov 2017

The diagram presents two curves. One represents labour demand and the other represents labour supply. A government sets a minimum wage ($M_w$) that employers are required to pay. What effect will this minimum wage have?

Oct/Nov 2017

A female accountant employed by a private firm is paid $80 per hour, whereas a male Professor of Finance at a government university is paid $40 per hour. Both of them work for the same number of hours. What might account for the gap in earnings?

Oct/Nov 2017

Every one of the four groups of descriptions in the table concerns an individual who is applying for a job. Which individual is most likely to be paid more?

Oct/Nov 2017

What might lead to an immediate rise in the working population?

Oct/Nov 2017

Which workers are most likely to receive the largest increase in wages from a pay rise of $2$%?

Oct/Nov 2017

Which factors might influence the size of the labour force in an economy?

Oct/Nov 2018

What could lead to a rise in the income of a doctor working in a government health service?

Oct/Nov 2018

Many UK students work during the holidays, and some put aside part of what they earn to help meet their tuition fees. UK graduates earn, on average, £8500 more each year than non-graduates. In 2016, economics graduates had the second-highest average earnings of all UK graduates. The top 10% of economics graduates earned £115000 a year.

Oct/Nov 2018

A fairly large share of people in the Philippines either work in call centres or go abroad for work. Call centres employ 1.2 million people in the Philippines and make up 8% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Because of the time difference with the US, which is the main market for call centre services, many Filipinos must work at night. These call centres are also bringing in new technology, including robots.

Oct/Nov 2018

A musician can choose to perform for an orchestra either in Germany or in England. Which mix of income and living costs is most likely to make her select the German orchestra? Income and cost of living in Germany as compared with those in England.

Oct/Nov 2019

What is one drawback of being a specialist skilled worker?

Oct/Nov 2019

Which factor is most likely to raise the occupational mobility of labour?

Oct/Nov 2019

What has no impact on wages in a free market economy?

Oct/Nov 2020

Which government policy measure would lead to an increase in a country’s supply of labour?

Oct/Nov 2020

In which occupation would wages usually rise?

Oct/Nov 2020

The diagrams illustrate the wage rates for cleaners (OWc) and nurses (OWn). What will happen if a national minimum wage of OM is introduced?

Oct/Nov 2021

The market equilibrium wage rate stands at $\$10$ per hour. What accounts for the fact that the wage rate actually paid is $\$12$ per hour?

Oct/Nov 2021

A trade union says that its members have seen their real income fall over the last five years. What would have had to occur for this to be the case?

Oct/Nov 2022

Which of the following is not a reason for the variation in airline pilots’ earnings in a particular country?

Oct/Nov 2023

In what way would a shift in demand for labour influence the labour market for an occupation?

Oct/Nov 2024

A country wants to raise the number of nurses available. Which method would be the most effective for doing this?

Oct/Nov 2024

Employers located in major cities often give staff extra allowances on top of normal wage rates. What is the most likely explanation for this?

Oct/Nov 2024

In which jobs are wages usually lowest?

Oct/Nov 2025

Which factor is least likely to raise the geographical mobility of labour?

Oct/Nov 2025

Worker X is paid less than worker Y. Which statement is most likely to apply to worker X?

Oct/Nov 2025