Hours of labor supply: A more flexible approach

The conventional microeconomic model of labor supply provides a parsimonious yet powerful foundational starting point to understand the relationship between hours of work, preferences, and individual well-being. The wholly separate model of firm labor demand also creates the groundwork for understanding the role of employers in determining work hours of their employees. The demand side may place constraints on some employees to often work hours and schedules that deviate from their preferred number and timing of work hours. However, by portraying humans’ behavior as a two-dimensional world, centered mainly on the market wage rate, the minimalism of the conventional labor supply and demand approach renders it less and less useful in understanding the realm of worker behavior in a world where individuals increasingly have multiple and interconnected roles and jobs.