ABSTRACT
Perhaps the earliest philosophy of valuing work is the Biblical injunc tion: ‘The labourer is worthy of his hire’. Like most statements con cerning work value, there is little help in determining what any individual job or person is worth. The current version is expressed through exchange theory, which notes inputs equals outcomes. The worker brings certain things to the job (or meets certain job require ments) and in exchange receives some set of outcomes, the most notable of which are rewards such as pay, but also include self esteem and other intrinsic outcomes.
