Михаил Попов - Working Day Reduction as the Ground of Modern Economic Development

During the examined fifteen years expenditures of labour of employees in health care and social work increased what, owing to economies of scale, surely assisted in more comprehensive satisfaction of appropriate social needs.

Time expenditures of similar activities in housekeeping slightly decreased in most of the examined countries. It is wrong to draw ambitious conclusions from it because this reduction reflects some decrease in time of similar services in the USA in 2007 as compared to 2003 (in the calculations during the mentioned years in the USA the data of time budgets was spread to all the analyzed countries, at that, 2003 data were accepted similar to 1993 figures).

At the same time, if we take a sufficiently long-time retrospect, then a relative part of the appropriate services rendered professionally increased undoubtedly. That is why it is reasonable to compare the dynamics of labour expenditures spent on rendering these services to tempos of growth of population.

Table 18

The Dynamics of Population, Labour Expenditures in Education, Health Care, and Social Services (1993-2007)

As it follows from the data above, in all the examined countries labour expenditures in education increased much more rapidly than population did. Accordingly, more favorable prerequisites for development of abilities of each member of the society formed.

The fact that the highest tempos of growth of these expenditures were in Korea attracts attention, at that, the country did not lead in the dynamics of population. High tempos of growth of labour expenditures in education combined with the leadership in growth of population in the USA. The dynamics of labour expenditures in education significantly outstripped growth of population in the FRG. In this respect, progress of the rest of the countries was less impressive.

As for the dynamics of expenditures in health care and social services, their superiority over tempos of growth of population was not everywhere: Italy was a reverse case. But in such countries as France, the FRG, Sweden outstripping growth of labour expenditures in health care and social services, as compared to the dynamics of population, was more significant than in education.

Consequently, in the studied countries, in general, prerequisites for health maintenance of all members of the society, for ensuring them with necessary social services strengthen.

To confirm what has been said it is reasonable to study the dynamics of the appropriate indices per capita.

Table 19

The Dynamics of Labour Expenditures in Education per Capita and the Level of Education of Population

Taking into account the comparative dynamics of population and general labour expenditures in education, it is not surprising that labour expenditures per capita grew in all the countries.

Thanks to quite high tempos of growth of labour expenditures Sweden kept its leadership. The USA held their second position. Thanks to the highest tempos of growth of such expenditures Korea’s index exceeded Canada’s index and almost came up with the USA’s index. It is significant that Korea outstripped France, the FRG, and Italy in the absolute value of these expenditures already in 1993. At the same time, Korea’s rate of free time of the society was the lowest among the examined countries.

Consequently, the value of labour expenditures in education, to a certain degree, does not depend on social labour productivity, the total value of nonproduction social activities, and the rate of free time of the society. Within certain limits, redistribution of nonproduction social activities in favor of such a key sector as education is possible.

The value of labour expenditures in education is one of the factors influencing duration of education: with an increase in these expenditures it becomes possible to educate the younger generation for longer time, to extend scales of training and professional retraining of able-bodied people. It may be supposed that average duration of actual education typical for adult people reflects such expenditures in the past and the expected duration of education of the younger generation is connected to the rate of these expenditures at present.

In the beginning of 1990s Korea was at the fourth place in the level of labour expenditures in education per capita, so that in the average duration of education of population it was at the fifth place among the examined countries in 2010. Thanks to rapid growth of such expenditures the country became a leader in the upcoming duration of education in fifteen years.

The leadership of the FRG in the average duration of education seemed to be contrary to the fact that the country was at the last but one place in labour expenditures per capita in 1993. In our opinion, the high level of the first index is partially connected to achievements of the GDR in education.

The lag of Sweden in the studied indices, not corresponding to its leadership in labour expenditures, looks paradoxical. The situation may be explained by special attention to education of adults in this country. Professional training and retraining are specific kinds of education, they are more labour-intensive from the point of view of organization of the teaching process, they demand an individual approach, economies of scales are less realized in them (for example, owing to “streaming” lectures), and they are not so continuous as studying at schools or institutes of higher education.

Of course, there cannot be a full correspondence between the rate and dynamics of labour expenditures in education per capita and duration of education and, moreover, between ranks of these indices in cross-country comparison. Both the first and second indices have a qualitative determinateness complicating the connection between them. Yet, on the whole, the connection between increasing in labour expenditures in education and expanding opportunities for development of abilities of all members of the society owing to this increase is seen.

It should not be forgotten that the dynamics of labour expenditures in education has the economic basis because realization of teaching activities demands material prerequisites (buildings, equipment, edition of teaching literature, etc.). Consequently, it is reasonable to state re-orientation of social production towards needs of the progressing sphere of education and, thereby, towards needs of free development of all members of the society.

At the same time, the fact that the countries with a higher level of labour productivity than in Korea have less labour expenditures in education per capita shows existence of certain economic barriers to formation of prerequisites for progress of education.

First of all, at its starting levels, the sphere of education is financed at the expense of a state (municipal) budget what increases costs of entrepreneurs and decreases their income by means of taxation. A benefit of utilization of more educated labour resources has a mediate character for employers. As a result, orientation towards making of profit enters into a contradiction with needs for free development of all members of the society. That is why the level of labour expenditures in education remains lower than the objectively possible level: achievements of Korea exactly show opportunities if this kind.