ABSTRACT
An influence, less important, indeed, than the hours of labour, but still very important, is exercised upon the national dividend and, through it, upon economic welfare, by the methods of industrial remuneration. At first sight it might seem that, if this be so, things must work out in the same way whatever method of remuneration is in vogue. Broadly speaking, the worker’s output will be larger, the more nearly the method of remuneration in vogue adjusts payments to individual results. In the occupations the national dividend will be none the worse if a fixed salary by the year, or a fixed wage by the hour, is paid without any reference to what the worker actually accomplishes in any particular period. In the types of work, since defects of quality threaten serious injury to health, it is generally thought better to refrain from any attempt at making the wage-payment depend on the quantity of output.
