From: Jerry Levy (Gerald_A_Levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Sat Dec 31 2005 - 08:08:05 EST
> Labor intensity is always difficult to measure, often it is > measured indirectly (frequency of work accidents, the number of workers > doing a given set of tasks). Hi Jurriaan: A short additional comment: there are studies which show that the frequency of work accidents goes up as labor intensity increases but there are also studies which show that work accidents increase as a consequence of a lengthening of the working day. So, if we use the # of work accidents as an indirect measure, we have no way of knowing to what extent the change is attributable to an increase in labor intensity and/or to what extent it is a result of an increase in the length of the working day. (On the micro level, it could also be attributable to a change in new technology or work rules and organization) It is important to note in connection with the topic of UE that the length of the working day is by no means uniform internationally and that in many nations firms are able to succeed in increasing absolute surplus value. There are some international statistics on this, but not a whole lot. In solidarity, Jerry
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon Jan 02 2006 - 00:00:03 EST