Labour mobility, time values, and technology in domestic production

This paper examines the theoretical relationship between the environmental standards of an activity and the real wage rate for that activity, and argues that the lower standard of the environment of domestic production results from domestic wages being set at a lower level than those of market production by controls on the mobility of labour. Real wages in domestic production are estimated by time values for three household activities, and some relationships between the variation in these estimates and household characteristics are examined. Restrictions on the mobility of domestic labour are discussed with reference to calculations of the effects of household characteristics on net wage opportunities in market production. The results of this research lead one to question the adequacy of planning policies concerned with the manipulation of the physical environment alone.