Sec.3 Microeconomic decision makers Ch.16-23

Question 1

Factors that affect an individual’s choice of occupation

Answer 1

Wage factors, non-wage factors, and limiting factors.

Question 2

Earnings

Answer 2

The the total pay received by a worker.

Question 3

Wage rate

Answer 3

A payment which an employer contracts to pay a worker (The basic wage a worker received per unit of time or unit of output).

Question 4

Wage factors

Answer 4

Wage, overtime, overtime pay, bonuses, commission rates.

Question 5

Non-wage factors

Answer 5

Job satisfaction, type of work, working conditions, working hours, holidays, pensions, fringe benefits, job security, career prospects, size of the firms, location.

Question 6

Limiting factors

Answer 6

Occupational choice and opportunity cost.

Question 7

National minimum wage (NMW)

Answer 7

A minimum wage rate for a hour’s work, fixed by the government for the whole economy.

Question 8

Wage differential

Answer 8

The difference in wages.

Question 9

Primary sector

Answer 9

Industries involved in the extraction of natural resources.

Question 10

Secondary sector

Answer 10

Industries involved in manufacturing and construction.

Question 11

Tertiary sector

Answer 11

Industries involved in the provision of services.

Question 12

Elasticity of demand of labor

Answer 12

The measure of the responsiveness of demand for labor to a change in the wage rate.

Question 13

Determinants of elasticity of demand for labor

Answer 13

Proportions of labor costs in total costs, the replicability of labor with capital, elasticity of demand for product produced, time period.

Question 14

Elasticity of supply of labor

Answer 14

The measure of the responsiveness of the supply of labor to a change in the wage rate.

Question 15

Determinants of elasticity of supply of labor

Answer 15

Qualifications and skills required, length of training period, level of employment, mobility of labor, degree of vocation, time period.

Question 16

Division of labor

Answer 16

The specialisation of labor.

Question 17

Craft unions

Answer 17

Trade unions representing workers with particular skills and from a range of industries.

Question 18

General unions

Answer 18

Trade unions representing workers with a range of skills and from a range of industries.

Question 19

Industrial unions

Answer 19

Trade unions representing workers in a particular industry.

Question 20

White collar unions

Answer 20

Trade unions representing workers in particular professions

Question 21

Role of trade unions

Answer 21

Negotiations for the betterment of wage and non-wage factors of their members, protection or improvement of their members, provision of information.

Question 22

Collective bargaining

Answer 22

Representatives of workers negotiating with employer’s associations.

Question 23

Basis of wage claims

Answer 23

Workers deserve to be paid more as they are working harder, ability to pay workers more due to rise in profits, comparability of wage to similar workers, maintenance of real income.

Question 24

Factors affecting the strength of a trade union

Answer 24

Level of economic activity, proportion of workers of a firm or industry which is part of the trade union, number of members, level of skill of represented members, demand for product produced by workers, favorability of legislation.

Question 25

Industrial action

Answer 25

When workers disrupt production to put pressure on employers to agree to their demands.

Question 26

Types of industrial action

Answer 26

Overtime bans, working to rule (also known as go slows) and strikes.