Occupational stress: some microeconomic issues
by Demetri Kantarelis
International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy (IJMCP), Vol. 1, No. 3, 2005

Abstract: In an attempt to capture the essence of issues associated with occupational stress, some neo-classical microeconomic theoretical concepts are proposed along with a suggestion for a screening test as well as popular and professional press summaries that appear to justify the underlying logic of this paper. Firstly, assuming that stress is a factor of production and that the firm functions in an environment free of any regulation, a proposed model predicts that the profit maximising stress level (S*) is less than the stress level that maximises output. Additionally, reduction below S* may be achieved only if a firm's increase in cost for stress relief in the work place guarantees productivity and profit improvement in exchange for a reduction in employee health damages/costs due to stress. Moreover, assuming that a stress standard inside the firm can be identified, compliance with that standard by reallocating stress from one group of employees to another or from one production plant to another may contribute to a reduction in total damages to employees and/or to a reduction in total stress relief expenditures to the firm. Secondly, a regulated firm subject to a standard, decided upon outside the firm, may trigger unintended outcomes due to mis-estimation of that standard: if the standard is considerably less than S*, the firm may not have the incentive to comply.

Online publication date: Sat, 24-Dec-2005

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy (IJMCP):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com