Labour (economics) - Definition and Overview

In classical economics and all micro-economics labour is one of three factors of production, the others being land and capital. It is a measure of the work done by human beings. There are macro-economic system theories which have created a concept called human capital (referring to the skills that workers possess, not necessarily their actual work), although there are also counterposing macro-economic system theories that think human capital is a contradiction in terms.

Compensation and Measurement

The price of labour is called a wage, and the price of labour per period of time is referred to as the wage rate. The two terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

Other frequently used terms include:

• wage = payment per unit of time (typically an hour)
• earnings = payment per over a period (typically a week, a month, or a year)
• total compensation = earnings + benefits
• income = total compensation + unearned income
• economic rent = total compensation - opportunity cost

Economists measure labour in terms of hours worked, total wages, or efficiency.

Types of labour

• brain worker
• free-work
• manual labour
• slavery
• volunteer

See also

• Economic rent
• Employment
• Human resources
  • Human Resource Management Systems
• Labour economics
• Offshore outsourcing
• Profession