Labour

Characteristics of Labour

Some of the characteristics of labour are as follows:
1. Labour is In-separable Form of Labourer
A Labourer cannot work without his labour. Whatever he performs is a result of his mental and physical exertion. Both cannot be separated from each other. The main driving force of a labourer is his labour. It may not happen that a labourer remains at home and ask his labour to go for work. It is covert i.e. it is present within a human being.
2. Labour is Indispensable for Production
As a matter of fact production is not possible without labour. In other words production is the aftermath of labour. Labour is necessary to activate production process. Every aspect of production ranging from purchase of raw material to final distribution in the market entirely depends upon labour. As a general rule, “efficient labour gives efficient production.”
3. Labour is perishable
A very important characteristic of labour is that it is perishable by natural law. It perishes with the passage of time. Since labour is present within a human being, therefore end of a laboures life means an end of labour as well. A loss of labour means loss forever.
4. Labour is an Active Factor of Production
Labour gives production itself. Nothing has to apply to start work except labour itself gives the performance and thus activates the production process. A noteworthy feature of this characteristic is that other factors of production cannot produce any thing without aid of labour.
5. Labour Sells his Service not Himself
Labour falls within the category of service industry. It is an intangible product of labourer for which he is free to sell it to anyone he likes. The place where he is free to sell it to any one he likes. The place where he works and the people, who hire him, actually hire the labour service not him.
6. Labour is Both Means and Ends of Production
Labour is not only meant for producing. They are fully entitled to use what ever they have produced. Being human being the labour works for the satisfaction of their wants and their labour act as the means to achieve their ends i.e. their satisfaction.
7. Labour is mobile
Avery important characteristic of labour is that it is mobile in nature. It may be shifted from one place to another whenever and wherever it is needed. But how ever the laborers when get set at the particular working place not very easily move from there because they may be fully satisfied working there.
8. Labour cannot be Calculated
The amount of labour spent on a particular work cannot be calculated. It is almost impossible even to assume that how many units of labour are required to perform a particular work. Labour therefore is an immeasurable factor of production.
9. Labours Differ in Efficiency
Alls the laboures are not alike there ability to do a work i.e. the labour differ from each other. A labour having high mental and physical capabilities to do a work differs from that having low physical and mental capabilities. This efficiency depends on a number of factors.

Efficiency of Labour

In very simple words efficiency of labour mean productive capacity. The capacity of a worker to work more or less in a given period of time is called his efficiency. Marshal defines efficiency as
“At a particular time the ability of a labourer to do better or much better and more work is deemed as the efficiency of labour.”

Efficiency of labour is a comparative concept. It compares the two or more workers. For example if a carpenter can make three chairs a day and another can make only one chair a day then this Implies that the efficiency of labour of the first worker is three times more than of the second. All the labours performing the same work turnout with different qualities in the same time depending upon their efficiency .All the laboures may not give similar output on a given period of time due to a difference their efficiency. Generally it depends upon the following factors:

• Personal qualities of labourer.
• Atmosphere of a country
• Atmosphere of the working place
• Ability of the organizer
• Miscellaneous.

Factors Determining Efficiency of Labour

Some of the factors upon which the efficiency of labourer depend are follows:
1. Personal Characteristics of Labourer
The efficiency of labour depends to a great extant on its race and heredity. The workers belonging to certain races inherit efficiency and are used to such conditions, which belong to their work.
Some races are better endowed with physical and mental capacity than others. Every individual inherits some qualities from her racial stock to which he belongs.
2. Power to Work
A worker needs to possess good and sound health in order to be efficient in his work. He must be intellectual and intelligent. Intelligence and intellect makes a man clear in his thoughts quicker in action and thus incenses his efficiency.
3. Education
Education increases the efficiency of labour. It helps him to perform his duty with more intelligence. Skilled and trained workers prove to be more efficient then the untrained ones. The technical fitness depends upon the opportunities for training of labour.
4. Moral Qualities
Efficiency also depends how much the worker is morally fit. Honesty sincerity soberness and willingness increases the efficiency. The moral fitness depends on the attributes of characters.
5. Climate and physical conditions
The climate and physical conditions of a country affects the workers efficiency. In some countries the extreme conditions of weather restrict the workers to work efficiently. It does not allow the workers to work to there least and thus their efficiency and productivity both fall down. Mild and moderate climate conditions are considered ideal for production.
6. Fair and Prompt Payment
A worker will obviously be instructed in those industries where higher wages are available to him. A well-paid worker is contended and thus puts his heart in his work especially if he is promptly and punctually paid.
7. Nature of Work
Efficiency of labour is also affected by the nature of work. Where the work is monotonous the labourer ceases to take interest in his work. Similarly every work cannot be done with same technique. It depends upon the nature of work that how to perform it. Some works require more efficiency and skill on the part of workers and thus the productive capacity of the workers is increased.
8. Conditions of Work
The working conditions also play an important role in the efficiency of labour. Good lighting, ventilations, sanitations, artistic structure of the building, clean and quite atmosphere have a substantial bearing on the efficiency of workers.
9. Labour Legislations and Social Security
The workers need social security. They want to protect themselves through labour laws. The countries where there are good labour laws the workers or laborers find themselves more secure and hence have high efficiency to work. For getting good production the management must formulate such policies and rules that may give the workers the freedom to work. The countries where the labour legislation is absent their efficiency is very low.
10. Hope for Future Prospects
Labour desire to work in those firms where chances of promotion are available. Workers who have no hopeful prospects even a t good reputation lose to take interest in their work.
11. Division of Labour
Division of labour greatly influences its efficiency. When a whole task is split up into various parts and different parts are entrusted to different workers such workers become expert on performing their respective duties.
12. Efficiency of Organizer
Efficiency of labour also depends upon the ability of the organizer. The manner in which he makes the labour work his behavior his management his choice of machines and raw material introduction of labour organizations and the way he employs his men affect the efficiency of labourer.

Division of Labour

Definition
The splitting of the production process on to its components process is known as division of labour. Each process is entrusted into a separate set of workers so that all of them co-operate to produce a single product. Division of labour is the result of specialization. Different workers who are assigned specific operation are specialized and skilled in their work.
Division of labour today is an important characteristic of the system of production. Infect there is hardly any producing unit of respectable size which does not organize production on the basis of division of labour.
Kinds of Division of Labour
Following are the types of the division of labour:
1. Simple Division Of Labour
It means the division of society in to major sections each specialized in occupations e.g. carpenter weavers blacksmith etc.
2. Complex Division of Labour:
In this case no groups of workers make a complete article. Instead the making of the article is split up into number of process and sub-process and each is carried out by a separate group of people.
3. Irrational or Geographical Division of Labour
This form refers to certain localities cities or towns specializing in the production of a particular commodity. It is also called localization of industries or regional division.
4. Occupational Division of Labour
It refers to professional division of labour i.e. each and every person be engaged in different office and job. For example some one working as a clerk, other as a manager, a lecturer in a college etc.

Mobility of Labour

Meaning
The capacity of a worker to move from one place to another is called mobility of labour. E.g. the movement of villagers towards cities for sake of employment, shifting a worker engaged in production to distribution.
Kinds of Mobility of Labour
Mobility of labour may take any one of the following kinds:
1. Geographical Mobility of Labour
The movement of a worker from one locality to another in search of employment is called geographical mobility of labour. E.g. if a worker has moved to Dubai in search of employment it will called geographical mobility.
Geographical mobility is of two types:
(i) National Mobility
If the movement of labour is with in the national boundaries of the country i.e. within the country it will be called national mobility.
(ii) International Mobility
When the movement of labour takes place across international boundaries i.e. out side the country such kind of mobility is called international mobility.
2. Occupational Mobility
The change of profession or occupation for the sake of getting better financial reward is called occupational mobility of labour. It is also called professional mobility e.g. if a labour changes his profession and starts a hotel it will be deemed as his professional or occupational mobility. It may be further classified as:
3. Horizontal Mobility of Labour
It is also known as parallel mobility of labour. It means that a worker moves from one employment to another without any change in his grade or salary e.g. a college clerk is transferred to the university office with the same salary and facilities.
4. Vertical Mobility of Labour
It refers to that mobility in which a person is transferred from a lower grade to a higher with an increase in his salary and other facilities e.g. an asst marketing manager is promoted as the marketing manager.
Diagram. Coming Soon…
Ox and Oy are the two axes. Units of apples are represented along ox and units of utility along oy. Utility of the first apple is represented by the rectangle standing on the utility of each successive unit consumed is represented by rectangles as shown in the figure, These rectangles are getting smaller as we consume more and more apples. The 5th apple yields no utility. The e6th and 7th have negative utility as shown by the rectangles below the axis.

Criticism

One of the pivoted assumptions of the law is that utility is measurable. In other words it is assumed that it is possible to express the utility or satisfaction, which a person desires from a good in qualitative terms. But utility relates to the state of mind of an individual. Thus it is a subjective term and is capable of being measured.
The law assumes that margined utility of money is constant. But it is not true. Actually as more and more is spent on the purchase of a commodity and less and less money is left with the purchaser the marginal utility of money goes on increasing. Thus the unit of measurement itself is variable.
The law does not apply to all types of commodities and persons. A drunkard gets more satisfaction on taking successive cups of wine. Greed increases with more money with some people.