SCOTTISH ECONOMIC-THOUGHT AND THE HIGH WAGE ECONOMY - HUME, SMITH ANDMCCULLOCH ON WAGES AND WORK MOTIVATION

This article examines the work of Hume, Smith and McCulloch on wages a nd work motivation, and finds a clear and detailed case made for high wages within Scottish political economy. This analysis, through Hume a nd Smith, is based on key aspects of Scottish Enlightenment thought, a nd represents the culmination of the liberalization of thought regardi ng labour which developed in the eighteenth century. McCulloch, whose work on wages, incentives and motivation is more detailed and interest ing than that of his 'post-Smithian' classical colleagues, is shown to be, in this area at least, clearly in the Scottish tradition.