Labour, Motivation and Productivity

Abstract

One of the crucial variables for economic development and modernisation is labour productivity. But ‘productivity’ is an ambiguous term and involves the whole gamut of features of economic life. In this chapter the discussion will be limited to the labour process: the ways that labour power is transferred through work into objects (goods and services) of consumption. Labour productivity is the contribution of labour to output. From the viewpoint of the economy labour input has three main aspects: the quantity of labour employed, the quality of that labour and organisation. The quantity of labour refers to the number of people at work. The quality of labour has to do with its effectiveness and efficiency — experience, effort and educational level influence the ability of employees to perform tasks efficiently. Organisation is concerned with the labour process, with the ways that labour power is harnessed to capital.