CONTEMPORARY LABOR
ECONOMICS 11TH EDITION
MCCONNELL SOLUTIONS
MANUAL
,Contemporary Labor Economics 11th Edition McConnell Solutions Manual
CHAPTER 2
The Theory of Individual Labor Supply
I. THE WORK-LEISURE DECISION: BASIC MODEL
A. Indifference Curves
1. Negative Slope
2. Convex to Origin
3. Indifference Map
4. Different Work-Leisure Preferences
B. Budget Constraint
C. Utility Maximization
D. Wage Rate Changes: Income and Substitution Effects
1. Income Effect
2. Substitution Effect
3. Net Effect
E. Graphic Portrayal of Income and Substitution Effects
F. Rationale for Backward-Bending Supply Curve
G. Empirical Evidence
H. Elasticity versus Changes in Labor Supply
II. APPLYING AND EXTENDING THE MODEL
A. Nonparticipants and the Reservation Wage
B. Standard Workday
1. Overemployment
2. Underemployment
C. Premium Pay versus Straight Time
D. Income Maintenance Programs
1. Three Basic Features
a. The Income Guarantee or Basic Benefit, B
b. The Benefit-Reduction Rate, t
c. The Break-Even Level of Income, Yb
2. Illustration
3. Controversy
E. The End of Welfare as an Entitlement
WORLD OF WORK
1. Work Hours Linked to Pollution
2. The Carnegie Conjecture
3 Labor Supply of Florida Lobster Fishermen
4. The Labor Supply Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
1. Annual Hours of Work per Employee
,LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After learning the material in Chapter 2 of Contemporary Labor Economics, the student should be able to:
1. graph an indifference map for a person who values leisure and income
2. explain how the slope of the indifference curve relates to the marginal rate of substitution of
leisure for income
3. explain why there is a diminishing marginal rate of substitution of leisure for income, which
results in convex indifference curves
4. explain why indifference curves farther from the origin represent higher levels of utility
5. relate personal differences in work-leisure preferences to personal differences in the shapes of
indifference curves
6. graph an income-leisure budget constraint and explain how its slope relates to the wage rate
7. identify, using the basic income-leisure model, an individual’s optimal combination of income
and leisure
8. distinguish between the income effect and substitution effect of a wage change and isolate each
on a graph
9. explain, in terms of income and substitution effects, the rationale for a backward-bending labor
supply curve
10. Correctly define and calculate the wage elasticity of labor supply
11. explain why a person with non-labor income may choose not to participate in the labor force,
relating this decision to the concept of the reservation wage
12. explain why a person may choose to “moonlight” or to work part-time
13. show in a graph how unpaid absenteeism may be related to requirements that people work a
standard 40-hour week
14. show graphically that a person’s utility-maximizing number of work hours may increase in
response to a premium wage for overtime work
15. examine an income maintenance plan and determine the basic benefit, the benefit-reduction rate,
and the break-even level of income
16. show, using the income-leisure model, why an income maintenance plan may reduce incentives
to work
17. Relate provisions of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Family program to the drop in welfare
caseloads over the past 10 years
ANSWERS TO SELECTED END-OF-CHAPTER QUESTIONS
2. Work more hours in (a) and (b); fewer hours in (c) and (d).
4. The outcome assumes the substitution effect is stronger than the income effect. The statement
reflects empirical evidence that the substitution effect strongly dominates the income effect for
females, but they roughly offset each other for males.
2
, 5. She will choose the high-wage option. She will feel underemployed, but this option will allow
her to reach a higher indifference curve (a higher level of utility.)
6. The lump-sum tax increases work effort through a pure income effect; the proportional tax may
either increase or reduce work effort depending on the relative strengths of the opposing income
and substitution effects.
11. The subsidy is $2400 ($3000 – .3 x $2000). The total income is $4400 ($2000 + the $2400
subsidy.) The break-even level of income is $10,000 ($3000 / .30).
12. HBW’ entails a zero benefit-reduction rate and the weakest disincentives to work. In contrast,
HBYW entails a 100% benefit-reduction rate and the strongest disincentives to work.
15. An increase in the minimum wage may either increase or decrease desired work hours for those
already in the labor market depending on the relative strengths of the substitution and income
effects. The substitution effect of the higher wage will increase desired hours of work while the
income effect will decrease desired hours of work. For those not in the labor force, there is only
an income effect, encouraging participation. A direct grant of nonlabor income has only an
income effect, reducing desired hours of work.
ECONOMICS 11TH EDITION
MCCONNELL SOLUTIONS
MANUAL
,Contemporary Labor Economics 11th Edition McConnell Solutions Manual
CHAPTER 2
The Theory of Individual Labor Supply
I. THE WORK-LEISURE DECISION: BASIC MODEL
A. Indifference Curves
1. Negative Slope
2. Convex to Origin
3. Indifference Map
4. Different Work-Leisure Preferences
B. Budget Constraint
C. Utility Maximization
D. Wage Rate Changes: Income and Substitution Effects
1. Income Effect
2. Substitution Effect
3. Net Effect
E. Graphic Portrayal of Income and Substitution Effects
F. Rationale for Backward-Bending Supply Curve
G. Empirical Evidence
H. Elasticity versus Changes in Labor Supply
II. APPLYING AND EXTENDING THE MODEL
A. Nonparticipants and the Reservation Wage
B. Standard Workday
1. Overemployment
2. Underemployment
C. Premium Pay versus Straight Time
D. Income Maintenance Programs
1. Three Basic Features
a. The Income Guarantee or Basic Benefit, B
b. The Benefit-Reduction Rate, t
c. The Break-Even Level of Income, Yb
2. Illustration
3. Controversy
E. The End of Welfare as an Entitlement
WORLD OF WORK
1. Work Hours Linked to Pollution
2. The Carnegie Conjecture
3 Labor Supply of Florida Lobster Fishermen
4. The Labor Supply Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
1. Annual Hours of Work per Employee
,LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After learning the material in Chapter 2 of Contemporary Labor Economics, the student should be able to:
1. graph an indifference map for a person who values leisure and income
2. explain how the slope of the indifference curve relates to the marginal rate of substitution of
leisure for income
3. explain why there is a diminishing marginal rate of substitution of leisure for income, which
results in convex indifference curves
4. explain why indifference curves farther from the origin represent higher levels of utility
5. relate personal differences in work-leisure preferences to personal differences in the shapes of
indifference curves
6. graph an income-leisure budget constraint and explain how its slope relates to the wage rate
7. identify, using the basic income-leisure model, an individual’s optimal combination of income
and leisure
8. distinguish between the income effect and substitution effect of a wage change and isolate each
on a graph
9. explain, in terms of income and substitution effects, the rationale for a backward-bending labor
supply curve
10. Correctly define and calculate the wage elasticity of labor supply
11. explain why a person with non-labor income may choose not to participate in the labor force,
relating this decision to the concept of the reservation wage
12. explain why a person may choose to “moonlight” or to work part-time
13. show in a graph how unpaid absenteeism may be related to requirements that people work a
standard 40-hour week
14. show graphically that a person’s utility-maximizing number of work hours may increase in
response to a premium wage for overtime work
15. examine an income maintenance plan and determine the basic benefit, the benefit-reduction rate,
and the break-even level of income
16. show, using the income-leisure model, why an income maintenance plan may reduce incentives
to work
17. Relate provisions of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Family program to the drop in welfare
caseloads over the past 10 years
ANSWERS TO SELECTED END-OF-CHAPTER QUESTIONS
2. Work more hours in (a) and (b); fewer hours in (c) and (d).
4. The outcome assumes the substitution effect is stronger than the income effect. The statement
reflects empirical evidence that the substitution effect strongly dominates the income effect for
females, but they roughly offset each other for males.
2
, 5. She will choose the high-wage option. She will feel underemployed, but this option will allow
her to reach a higher indifference curve (a higher level of utility.)
6. The lump-sum tax increases work effort through a pure income effect; the proportional tax may
either increase or reduce work effort depending on the relative strengths of the opposing income
and substitution effects.
11. The subsidy is $2400 ($3000 – .3 x $2000). The total income is $4400 ($2000 + the $2400
subsidy.) The break-even level of income is $10,000 ($3000 / .30).
12. HBW’ entails a zero benefit-reduction rate and the weakest disincentives to work. In contrast,
HBYW entails a 100% benefit-reduction rate and the strongest disincentives to work.
15. An increase in the minimum wage may either increase or decrease desired work hours for those
already in the labor market depending on the relative strengths of the substitution and income
effects. The substitution effect of the higher wage will increase desired hours of work while the
income effect will decrease desired hours of work. For those not in the labor force, there is only
an income effect, encouraging participation. A direct grant of nonlabor income has only an
income effect, reducing desired hours of work.
