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Many people around the world believe that U.S. adults live only to work. Do we really work that
much harder than people in other countries? To answer this question, we turn to data collected
by OECD, an organization that does research on economic development issues. The following
figures represent the average hours worked per week (total number of hours an average
employee works per year, divided by 52), averaged over the more recent five years available, for
countries that are members of the OECD:
Questions
Answer:
2. Why do you think U.S. employees have a reputation for “living to work”?
Answer:
3. Do these results prove that Koreans, for example, are more motivated to work than their
U.S. counterparts? Why or why not?
Answer:
4. A research study has suggested that changes in hours worked over time are due, in part, to
changes in tax rates. “If taxes and [government expenditures] are high, that may lead to
less work,” said one of the researchers. Supporting this theory, since 2001, workers in the
United States have increased their hours worked while tax rates have dropped. What theory
or theories of motivation might support such a change?
Answer:
Sources: L. Ohanian, A. Raffo, and R. Rogerson, Long-Term Changes in Labor Supply and Taxes: Evidence from
OECD Countries, 1956–2004, NBER working paper 12786, December 2006; and J. J. Smith, “Taxes Likely
Causing Some Countries’ Workers to Labor Fewer Hours