Explain the main factors which might determine the elasticity of supply of labour to an occupation such as computer specialist (10)

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Explain the main factors which might determine the elasticity of supply of labour to an occupation such as computer specialist (10)

The elasticity of supply of labour measures how a change in wage rate will affect the amount of labour supplied to a given market in this case computer specialists, it shows how flexible a labour market is to enter and exit. Both elastic and inelastic labour markets are shown below. As you can see a inelastic labour market has a steeper supply of labour curve as it is not easy to enter the market usually due to the high skill levels needed and how long the investment in human capital will take before the economic agent can enter the market with the required skill, however an elastic labour market has a much less steep labour supply curve showing that the market is easier to enter and exit due to the lower levels of skill needed and is usually jobs such as waiting or shop assistants. An increase in wage rate in an inelastic labour market will have little effect on the amount of labour supplied however in the elastic market a small wage increase leads to a large increase in the quantity if labour supplied.
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Elastic Labour Supply Inelastic Labour Supply

The main factor that affects the elasticity of supply in the computer specialists market is the amount of training and education needed in the market these cause large barriers to entry within the market. At the current time highly skilled IT Specialists need to go through intensive training often including 4 years of degree level studying this means that you cannot jus decide that as the wage rate increases in the market that you will become an it specialist however with today's society the IT specialist markets barriers to entry are ...

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This essay is structured well, having a clear introduction and conclusion. The conclusion, however, is poorly written and the one sentence is much too long. It is key to end on a strong note, with a justified judgement if evaluating, and poor grammar will only hinder its effectiveness. Technical terms are used well throughout.

The analysis in this essay is strong. When mentioning elasticities, a key word I always use is responsiveness. In this case, I would define elasticity of labour supply as "the responsiveness of the supply of labour to a change in the wage rate". It was nice to see clear diagrams showing the significance of the elasticity of supply in determining wages. The main determinants were well explained, such as qualifications required, training duration and the high-skilled nature of the job. If the essay wanted to explore elasticity further, they could've discussed transfer earnings and economic rent to ensure they reach the top marks. There is a small slip in the conclusion where they say elasticity of demand instead of supply. I would've liked to have seen the government intervention point explained further, as this is not a common point.

This question responds to the question strongly, going beyond the analysis required by evaluating the extent to which factors determine elasticity of supply for labour. It was nice to see the concept applied to a real-life market - I was pleased to see that rather than aimlessly explaining all the factors, they focused on the ones which would affect the computer scientist market most.