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

In this regard, the experience of Sweden is representative where the level of redistribution of incomes by means of the budget system is one of the highest in the world. Socialization of a substantial part of incomes, as a characteristic of “Swedish socialism”, allows ensuring the highest volume of labour expenditures in education per capita among the studied countries. This volume can be taken for a model for modern conditions.

To our opinion, influence of the profitability factor explains, to a great extent, the differentiation of labour expenditures per capita in the examined countries. For example, in the USA higher education is paid what, on one hand, complicates access to get it and, on the other hand, makes an appropriate for the market economy incentive of development of teaching activities. The contradiction resolves itself mostly by means of attracting solvent students from abroad: as it is known, the USA lead in the world in the number of foreign students studying there. Inter alia, it means that the index of the labour expenditures level in education per capita overrates the measure of conditions for development of an average American.

In such European countries as France, the FRG, and Italy studying at institutes of higher education is free. Accordingly, a restrictive influence of budget savings for the sphere of education, dictated, in the end, by interests of entrepreneur’s income, unlike it is in the USA, is not softened by commercialization of functioning of institutes of higher education here. At the same time, these countries are not as consistent in redistribution of incomes by means of the budget system as Sweden. All of it conditions their lag in the labour expenditures level in education per capita.

The tendencies typical for development of teaching activities repeat, to a certain degree, in the sphere of health care and social work too.

Table 20

The Dynamics of Labour Expenditures in Health Care and Social Work and Lifespan of Population in Several Countries

*Human Development Report 2000. P. 186.

**Human Development Report 2009. P. 171.

As it follows from the above data, labour expenditures per capita in the analyzed sphere grew in all the countries except for Italy. At that, the highest growth was in Korea what allowed this country reducing the lag in this index significantly.

During the studied period the lifespan increased in all the countries what, on one hand, confirms the significance of the labour expenditures factor and, on the other hand, having in view the experience of Italy, shows that this factor in not the only one. The fastest increase in the lifespan corresponds to the highest growth of labour expenditures in health care and social work – like it is in Korea.

Just like in teaching activities, the USA and Sweden, mostly realizing an opposite approach to financing these kinds of activities, lead in the level of labour expenditures per capita in the researched sphere. Let us note that in conditions of commercialization of these services a high level of average labour expenditures in rendering them does not guarantee leadership in lifespan of population: inequality in availability to these vital services tells, among other things. On the contrary, in the countries where the volume of the services less depends on solvency of their consumers, lifespan is longer at relatively low labour expenditures in corresponding kinds of labour per capita.

Surely, impact of commercialization is inevitable in conditions of domination of orientation towards profit in the economy, moreover, the effect of this factor leads to increasing in inequality in availability to services significant for lifespan of all members of the society.

Thus, growth of the rate of free time of the society is accompanied by increasing in the scales of those kinds of social activities which are immediately connected to development of all members of the society. Those kinds of activities (trade, management) which have an instrumental significance from the point of view of economic development reduce relatively. A positive tendency of economic development is present.

This regular tendency is realized with obstacles, it is counteracted by several factors caused by growth of the financial services sector, commercialization of the social sphere of economically developed countries.

The movement of this contradiction is displayed more fully when the dynamics of the ratio of working and free time is considered not only at the level of the society in general but as applied to individuals.

Average Annual Working Time per One Employee in Social Production at the Present Level of Economic Development and in Conditions of Universal Participation in Production

The value of working time funds in social production and the nonproduction sphere determines duration of working time during which able-bodied members of the society have to work to ensure satisfaction of present social needs at present labour productivity – normal duration of working time.

Fulfilment of labour for satisfaction of social needs supposes ability to work, i.e., the complex of abilities necessary for fulfilment of labour functions. Age limits of ability to work depend on many factors including normal duration of working time for the society. Certainly, each person’s ability to work is specific, nevertheless, regulation of social economic processes demands establishment of a social rate of seniority for the lifetime.

At present volumes of production activities and activities in the services sphere normal duration of working time depends on the part of able-bodied people in the total number of population. The higher this part is the less enduring labour in the social economy must be fulfilled by workers and, vice versa, reduction of this part leads to distribution of the fixed volume of social labour between less members of the society.

From the point of view of economic development the way of distribution of production activities and fulfilment of services between able-bodied people, but not division of the society into able-bodied and not able-bodied people, is of principle. According to the first criterion differences are social-economical, and according to the second criterion they are age-related in their basis.

It is reasonable to compare the dynamics of working time per one employee, provided reproduction of significant differences between members of the society depending on fulfilled kinds of economic activities, to provided equality of members in fulfilled kinds of labour.

The first situation corresponds to the present state of affairs, the second is objectively possible, but it demands transition to universal participation in social production of able-bodied people.

As in the modern statistics average annual working time per one employee is given, as a rule, without taking into consideration the specificity of labour expenditures in the production and nonproduction spheres, let us determine present labour duration in production from general labour expenditures and employment in it.

As it follows from the data of table 21 during the studied period in most of the countries there was decreasing in duration of labour time of employees of the production sphere (except for Canada and Sweden). Decreasing in the general working time fund that was not seen only in Canada was the main factor of this decrease.