The effect of non-pecuniary motivations on labor supply

Y. Hossein Farzin ()

The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 2009, vol. 49, issue 4, 1236-1259

Abstract: People value work not only as a means of earning income to satisfy their consumption needs but also as a direct source of satisfaction for its socio-psychological effects (non-pecuniary benefits). I show that once non-pecuniary effects of working time are incorporated in the standard labor-supply model: (i) the wage rate under-estimates (over-estimates) the true opportunity cost of non-work/leisure time when working time has non-pecuniary benefits (costs), (ii) non-pecuniary work motivations can substitute for monetary wages as work incentives, (iii) at very low wage rates, work can become a net source of utility, and (iv) the implied shape of labor-supply curve differs starkly from those implied by standard theory. I identify conditions under which a greater non-pecuniary work motivation induces a larger supply of labor, and examine the effects of non-wage income on supplies of paid work and voluntary work when there are non-pecuniary benefits associated with both types of work.

Keywords: Non-pecuniary; Labor; supply; Non-wage; income; Paid; work; Voluntary; work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:49:y:2009:i:4:p:1236-1259

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