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Is Work a Burden? The Role of the Living Standard

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  • Jianbo Jeff Luo

    (State University of New York at Buffalo)

Abstract

Many mainstream schools of economics argue that work is a burden, while nonmainstream schools argue that this might not be entirely true. This paper aims to reconcile this difference by suggesting that individuals will balance income and leisure only after the fixed expense for their current living standard is met. Three applications show that the above explanation can reconcile different historical perspectives, explain various discrepancies about labor supply between neoclassical theory predictions and empirical findings, and reconcile the different interpretations about lottery winners’ labor supply.

Suggested Citation

  • Jianbo Jeff Luo, 2022. "Is Work a Burden? The Role of the Living Standard," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 61-77, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:163:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-022-02878-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-022-02878-w
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    Cited by:

    1. Jianbo Jeff Luo, 2022. "Is Happiness Adaptation to Poverty Limited? The Role of Reference Income," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2491-2516, August.
    2. Luo, Jianbo Jeff, 2022. "Occupational licensing and job satisfaction: Evidence from US data," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 101(C).

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