Spencer, D.A. orcid.org/0000-0002-7803-6105 (2025) Marshall’s economics of work: a reassessment. Cambridge Journal of Economics. beaf008. ISSN 0309-166X
Abstract
This article reassesses some key aspects of Alfred Marshall’s economics of work, showing their value, limitations and enduring relevance for modern economic enquiry. It establishes that, for Marshall, work mattered not just because of the income it gave to workers, but also because of the kind of lives that it enabled workers to lead. Based on a wide conception of work, Marshall supported the reform of work, including the reduction of working hours, in order to improve workers’ quality of life. The article argues that some of Marshall’s core ideas on work and work reform can offer help in rethinking how modern economics conceptualises work and how it approaches issues of progress in workers’ well-being.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-NC 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Alfred Marshall, Work, Work reform, Working time, Working classes, Capitalism |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Economics Division (LUBS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 27 Feb 2025 11:10 |
Last Modified: | 27 Feb 2025 11:10 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/cje/beaf008 |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:223835 |