GENERAL WAGE LEVEL Исполнитель

The general wage level is an average of widely differing individual pay rates and earnings. The various elements contributing to wage differentiation are as follows—Relative value of product: An industrious and skilled worker who produces a more valuable output than workers of lesser capabilities is worth more to an employer and usually is paid more. Costs of required capabilities: Employers must pay the price of special training if they are to fulfill their need for workers so trained. If engineers did not receive more compensation than laborers, relatively few persons would invest the time, money, and effort required to become engineers. Relative scarcity of specific kinds of labor: Common labor is paid poorly because it is common, but entertainers, such as movie stars and television performers, who have qualities regarded as unique enjoy very large incomes. Comparative attractiveness of occupations: Difficult, disagreeable, or dangerous jobs usually bring higher rates of pay than do more inviting jobs requiring comparable skills. Thus, a truck driver engaged in moving explosives earns more than one delivering groceries. Mobility of labor: Where the working population is immobile, wage differentials are wide. On the other hand, the readiness of workers to change jobs or to move long distances to better-paying positions tends to narrow wage differentials among firms, occupations, and communities. Comparative bargaining strength: A union may lift the wages of its members above the scales paid to unorganized workers of equal skill. Custom and legislation: Many wage differentials are rooted in custom or legislation. For example, both custom and legislation are responsible for the fact that black miners in South Africa have long earned only a fraction of the wages paid white miners doing equivalent work. On the other hand, governments and unions frequently act to eliminate wage differentials based on race, sex, and other irrelevancies and to standardize wages generally.