ABSTRACT
Time in economics is generally perceived as either a calibration of change, allowing variations in economic values to be measured, or as some scarce resource in the production and consumption decisions of individuals and organizations. Time as a social or psychological concept has had little significance in the development of economics, in which time, if mentioned at all, has been usually calendar. The time-at-work decision has now been examined from a number of perspectives: by looking at the individual income/leisure choice, by allowing productivity per hour to vary, by examining the various dimensions of labour services and by considering labour utilization as the mirror image of capital utilization. The analysis thus far presented has had little to say about labour-market realities such as overtime working, the effects of shiftwork, and retirement options. However it is contention that each of these labour-market dimensions can be successfully analysed in terms of the models presented.
