Americans Motivation to Work Essay -- Labor Supply Economics

American's Motivation to Work The majority of Americans get up each morning and go to work in order to earn money. But what are the true motivators for working and where do they come from? How do wage rates and other forms of compensation affect the quantity of labor supplied to the market? This essay will discuss how labor effects the economy. Each person working plays a role in society and production output. These are areas that need to be addressed when the supply of labor is being discussed. The motivation to work arises from a variety of social, psychological and economic forces. People need income to pay their bills, feel that they have a role in society and also feel a sense of acheivement. Although there is always a choice, that is not working and not getting paid. People choose between labor and leisure according to the percieved rewards of each. The marginal utility of labor reflects the satisifaction to be gained from added income, as well as any direct pleasure a job may provide. A worker compares these satisfactions with those of leisure and chooses the one that yeilds the greatest utility for available time and wage rates. As it may seem obvisous to some, the more a worker gets paid, the more encouragement that worker has to work more hours and produce more output. Thus, higher wages may increase the marginal utility of an hour's labor, this being a substitiute for labor. But it can also have the opposite effect. This being that if a wor...