什麼是勞動力；勞動

在經濟學中，勞動力是指以掙工資爲生的人們的總體。古典經濟學中，勞動是三大生產要素之一，另外兩者爲資本和土地。勞動也可指體力勞動者的服務，包括人類在生產財富中所提供的有價值的服務，而不是累積和提供資本。在現代經濟生活中，勞動的目的是爲其產品，或是爲了要求分享一部分社會工業的總產品。市場中某特殊種類的勞動，其單位時間的價格或是工資率不僅決定於勞動者的技術效能，而且也決定於對勞動者所能提供的那種勞務的需求和其他生產手段的供應情況。其他影響工資的因素包括勞動者的訓練、技術、智力、社會地位、升遷的前景和工作的相對難度。將所有的因素列入考慮使經濟學家們幾乎不可能替付出的勞動力定下標準值。取而代之的是，經濟學家經常以將勞動力用於不同用途所製造出來產品的量和價值來加以比較。

labor

In economics, the general body of wage earners. In classical economics, labor is one of the three factors of production, along with capital and land. Labor can also be used to describe work performed, including any valuable service rendered by a human agent in the production of wealth, other than accumulating and providing capital. Labor is performed for the sake of its product or, in modern economic life, for the sake of a share of the aggregate product of the community's industry. The price per unit of time, or wage rate, commanded by a particular kind of labor in the market depends not only on the technical efficiency of the laborer but also on the demand for his services and on the supply of other workers. Other variables include the training, skill, and intelligence of workers and the social status, prospects for advancement, and relative difficulty of the work. All these factors make it impossible for economists to assign a standard value to labor performed. Instead, they often compare different uses of the available supply of labor with reference to the quantity and value of the product they yield.