Suppose that a consumer can earn a higher wage rate for working overtime. That is, for the first q hours the consumer works, he or she receives a real wage rate of w1, and for hours worked more than q he or she receives w2, where w2 > w1 . Suppose that the consumer pays no taxes and receives no nonwage income, and he or she is free to choose hours of work. (a) Draw the consumer’s budget constraint, and show his or her optimal choi
Suppose that a consumer can earn a higher wage rate for working overtime. That is, for the first q hours the consumer works, he or she receives a real wage rate of w1, and for hours worked more than q he or she receives w2, where w2 > w1 . Suppose that the consumer pays no taxes and receives no nonwage income, and he or she is free to choose hours of work.
(a) Draw the consumer’s budget constraint, and show his or her optimal choice of consumption and leisure.
(b) Show that the consumer would never work q hours, or anything very close to q hours. Explain the intuition behind this.
(c) Determine what happens if the overtime wage rate w2 increases. Explain your results in terms of income and substitution effects. You must consider the case of a worker who initially works overtime, and a worker who initially does not work overtime.
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