Worker surveillance capital, labour share, and productivity

Abstract This paper proposes a basic model with two types of capital: productive capital directly involved in the production process and devoted to monitoring workers. Surveillance intensifies workers’ job strain, while wage recognition encourages their engagement. Firms face double trade-off between capital, incentives labour costs. Under simple assumptions, up certain threshold, technological innovation improves productivity, wages, profits at same pace, leading flat share income. Then, once threshold is breached, profit-maximization initiates transfer from tools. progressive shift generates decline productivity slowdown, despite greater strain. The suggests possibility third phase which recovers.