Labour Markets

There are actors who earn extremely high incomes.’

What best explains this?

• Acting is a popular career.

• Actors have regular employment.

• Actors work short hours.

• Some actors have a unique talent.

What might be a direct benefit to the individual worker of a specialised job?

• Specialisation can enable the worker to become more skilled.

• Specialisation enables a better quality product to be produced.

• Specialisation enables the firm to introduce more machinery.

• Specialisation makes better use of resources.

What is the most likely reason for a worker preferring to be employed by the government rather than by a firm in the private sector?

• more chance of a fast changing environment

• more chance to work in a large organisation

• more opportunity to gain from successful risk taking

• more possibility of productivity bonuses

A group of workers in a firm join a trade union.

What would the union be expected to do?

• arrange for labour-saving technology to be introduced

• discuss safety issues in the workplace with the employer

• ensure job security by promoting the firm’s products through advertising

• negotiate new contracts with major buyers of the firm’s products

When will a trade union find it easier to achieve higher wages for its members?

• when consumers demand more of the product made

• when the company has a decrease in profits

• when the cost of raw materials increases

• when unemployment increases

The table shows the change in real incomes for a number of occupations between 1978 and 2008.

What can be concluded from the table?

• All occupations were better off in 2008 than in 1978.

• Fork-lift truck drivers earned the lowest wages in 2008.

• Doctors have earned more than lawyers since 1978.

• Professionals received higher percentage increases in income than manual workers.

A group of workers in a firm joins a trade union.

When would they be least likely to increase wages of the members?

• during a recession

• in an economic boom

• when productivity is rising

• where there is a limited supply of labour

A national trade union wishes to increase the wages of its members without reducing the numbers employed.

Which factor would help the union to do this?

• The demand for the industry’s product is high.

• The industry consists of a small number of well-organised employers.

• The union workers have low-level skills.

• The workers’ wages are the largest cost of the industry.

The wage rate of a worker is reduced.

Which combination of characteristics of the job is most likely to cause the worker to stay in the job?

• additional bonuses high

  job security high

  unsocial hours many

• additional bonuses high

  job security high

  unsocial hours none

• additional bonuses low

  job security low

  unsocial hours many

• additional bonuses low

  job security low

  unsocial hours none

In the United States (US) in 2011, 7.6 million public sector workers (36% of public sector workers) were members of trade unions, but only 7.1 million private sector workers (8% of private sector workers) belonged to a trade union.

What can be concluded from this information?

• 28% of all workers belonged to a trade union in the US in 2011.

• Collective bargaining was more a feature of the private sector than the public sector in the US in 2011.

• More people worked in the private sector than in the public sector in the US in 2011.

• The working population in the US in 2011 was 14.7 million.