Agriland.ie A study by researchers in the US shows that people from places where farming work has been historically important have higher work ethics and work longer hours in general.
The study, carried out by researchers from Stanford University and Santa Clara University – both in California – suggests that people’s work ethic in a country or region depends on the role that labour has played there historically as an input in agricultural production.
According to the research, this is especially true where crop production is concerned. Societies that have – over hundreds of years – depended on the cultivation of crops with high marginal returns to labour effort will see people working longer hours and will develop a preference for working hard.
The study, which focuses on Europe, works by forming an index of potential agricultural labour intensity of various regions, based on a region’s suitability for the cultivation of crops with high estimated marginal returns to labour.
This index is then compared to work hours and work attitudes in a particular region. The study found that a higher level of agricultural labour intensity in the past predicts longer working hours and a lower preference for leisure time among populations today.
After a great deal of (very complicated) calculations and data tables, the study’s conclusion says that “a high work ethic, in the sense of a lower preference for leisure, arises and persists in societies with high marginal labour returns agricultural production”.
Individuals from European regions that are relatively more suitable for labour intensive crops work more hours per week, report a higher number of desired weekly work hours and consider work more important in their lives.
