On average, Norwegians work only 27 hours a week. They also take more, and longer, holidays than most other countries' workers. In 2013, Norway had the second highest productivity in the world. It was also ranked number one in the Human Development Index (HDI). Unlike many other countries, Norway has had almost full employment in recent years.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2015). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] Output per worker/factor
2. [1] per hour/time period
3. [1] improved education/training
4. [1] increased investment /advances in technology
5. [1] increase in wages
6. [1] increase in monetary rewards
7. [1] shorter working hours
8. [1] higher unemployment
9. [1] greater specialisation
10. [1] improved education/training may raise skills and more skilled workers can produce more
11. [1] increased investment /advances in technology – more up to date capital goods are likely to produce more
12. [1] increase in wages may motivate workers to work harder
13. [1] provision of e.g. a free car/good pension scheme may motivate workers to work harder
14. [1] shorter working hours may mean that workers may have more energy
15. [1] higher unemployment may mean that those who retain their jobs may be more the more skilled workers
16. [1] greater specialisation may make workers more efficient
17. [1] a good healthcare system/high spending on healthcare
18. [1] high investment in hospitals
19. [1] will increase people's life expectancy
20. [1] a good education system/high spending on education
21. [1] high income/more schools
22. [1] enabling families to send their children to school for a number of years
23. [1] positive attitudes to education
24. [1] may lead to higher mean/expected years of schooling
25. [1] a high level of total demand
26. [1] good quality of resources/high productivity
27. [1] sound economic policies
28. [1] can result in a high GDP per head/high income
29. [1] efficient use of resources
30. [1] working at full capacity/producing on the production possibility curve
31. [1] making as much output as possible/increase output
32. [1] high living standards
33. [1] low poverty
34. [1] low spending on unemployment benefits
35. [1] high tax revenue
36. [1] government spending on other areas e.g. healthcare and education can increase
37. [1] government policy measures do not have to be used to lower unemployment
38. [1] they can concentrate on other areas e.g. a balance on the current account of the balance of payments
39. [1] may reduce crime rates
40. [1] lower government spending on e.g. prisons
41. [1] productivity may fall
42. [1] the last people employed may not be as skilled
43. [1] inflation may occur
44. [1] shortage of workers can raise wages
45. [1] cause cost-push inflation
46. [1] high incomes will lead to high demand
47. [1] cause demand-pull inflation
48. [1] firms may find it difficult to expand
49. [1] as hard to recruit extra workers
50. [1] supply constraint
51. [1] rising demand with a supply constraint may result in more imports
52. [1] worsening the current account position
53. [1] resulting high incomes may increase demand for imports
54. [1] which may cause a current account/balance of payments deficit
55. [1] full use of resources may result in environmental damage
56. [1] depletion of natural resources