Posts

Showing posts with the label leisure-work trade off

Decision Making as Output and Bounded Rationality

-
  The classical economics theories proceed on the assumption of rational agents. Rationality implies the economic agents undertake actions or exercise choices based on the cost-benefit analysis they undertake. The assumption further posits that there exists no information asymmetry and thus the agent is aware of all the costs and benefits associated with the choice he or she has exercised. The behavioral school contested the decision stating the decisions in practice are often irrational. Implied there is a continuous departure from rationality. Rationality in the views of the behavioral school is more an exception to the norm rather a rule. The past posts have discussed the limitations of this view by the behavioral school. Economics has often posited rationality in the context in which the choices are exercised rather than theoretical abstract view of rational action. Rational action in theory seems to be grounded in zero restraint situation yet in practice, there are numerous restra
Post a Comment
Read more

Job- Family Balance: Trade Offs, Double Income and Single Income Families

-
Many believe that job-family balance is strictly a time management issue. With many women and men reporting difficulties in constantly adjusting to the demands of the double duties of employment and family in an atmosphere of economic insecurity, demanding jobs, and unsupported workplaces, tradeoffs become essential.    Yet inspite of these perceived difficulties, we do find existence of both single income and double income families. Let us explore this phenomenon through a lens of an economist. Economics posits the presence of trade-offs. Studies indicate the existence of both employment trade-offs and family trade-offs.   The former refer to sacrifices that people make in their jobs because of their family responsibilities and the latter refers to the other way round.   As individuals offer themselves in the labour market, the benefits accrue through increased income, increased knowledge and consequent associated higher living standards. This however results in decreased t
Post a Comment
Read more

Twitter, Facebook and Productivity: Are they Mutually Exclusive?

-
Employees would desire access to social networking sites at work places. Employers feel it as an unnecessary distraction. How do we reconcile the two?   In 2009, Nucleus Research estimated a loss of 1.5% to firms’ productivity thanks to online social networking usage. Similarly in 2010, a British research firm estimated the loss to British firms at $2.2 billion per year. This implies a trade off happens between the firm’s decision to allow employees to access social networking sites at work and the productivity of the employees. However a contrary view too exists. Writing in Wired (February 2010; www.wired .com), Brendan Koerner argues otherwise.   He feels they are essential to enhance creativity and stoke a creative mind. He feels the studies that argue the loss of productivity ignore the impact of the creative process. With the human body unstructured to maintain a constant focus on assigned tasks, periodic breaks relieve the conscious minds of the pressure to perform. This e
Post a Comment
Read more