Many people around the world believe that U.S. adults live only to work. Do we really work that much harder than people in other countries? To answer this question, we turn to data collected by OECD, an organization that does research on economic development issues. The following figures represent the average hours worked per week (total number of hours an average employee works per year, divided by 52), averaged over the more recent five years available, for countries that are members of the OECD:
1. South Korea 46.7
2. Greece 39.9
3. Hungary 38.6
4. Czech Republic 38.2
5. Poland 38.1
6. Mexico 36.0
7. Italy 35.2
8. Iceland 34.9
9. New Zealand 34.9
10. Japan 34.5
11. Canada 33.6
12. Slovak Republic 33.5
13. Australia 33.4
14. Finland 33.2
15. United States 33.0
16. Spain 32.7
17. Portugal 32.5
18. United Kingdom 32.4
19. Ireland 31.8
20. Switzerland 31.7
21. Austria 31.6
22. Luxembourg 30.5
23. Sweden 30.4
24. Denmark 29.8
25. France 29.8
26. Belgium 29.6
27. Germany 27.8
28. Netherlands 26.1
29. Norway 26.0
1. Do these results surprise you? Why or why not?
2. Why do you think U.S. employees have a reputation for "living to work"?
3. Do these results prove that Koreans, for example, are more motivated to work than their U.S. counterparts? Why or why not?
4. A research study has suggested that changes in hours worked over time are due, in part, to changes in tax rates. "If taxes and [government expenditures] are high, that may lead to less work," said one of the researchers. Supporting this theory, since 2001, workers in the United States have increased their hours worked while tax rates have dropped. What theory or theories of motivation might support such a change?