THE LAW OF SELF-EXPLOITATION OF AN WORKER

The application of the theory of marginal utility to the modern conditions of entrepreneurs’ activities, as well as to the labor of hired workers, in combination with modern research in this area, allowed the author to identify and formulate a stable pattern of “self-exploitation of an worker”, characteristic of any modern working person. The analysis of the average estimates by a modern small entrepreneur and hired worker of the marginal usefulness of the results of their labor and the burden of their acquisition (appropriation) led the author to the conclusion that there are certain stable regularities in the ratio of these estimates, which can be formulated as the law of the self-exploitation of an worker (working person): “The subjective assessment by the worker (working person) of the marginal utility of the ruble he earns will always decrease, and the marginal burden of earning this ruble will increase. At the point of intersection of these two estimates, an equilibrium state occurs, when the assessment of further efforts to earn the marginal ruble acquires a negative character and exceeds the assessment of the attractiveness of the marginal ruble earned. At this equilibrium point, the worker (working person) stops making efforts to earn the next ruble”. The author refers to a modern worker or working person as people who make certain efforts to earn money or some other results of their work, relying mainly on their own physical and mental strength and resources. These can be both self-employed citizens and small entrepreneurs, managers and other employees. The identified patterns clarify the causes and mechanism of a sharp decrease in the productivity of employees with an excessive increase in the production load, the nature of the concept of the “norm of control” (“sphere of control”) and its connection with the reasons for “delegation of authority” in organizations. The revealed features of the self-exploitation of working people in various areas of employment make it possible to take them into account in practical activities, more effectively distributing the labor load.