The tendency for workers to value their leisure hours more than hours of work as wage rate increases gives rise to

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks what happens when workers begin to value leisure more than work as wages rise. This is about the labour supply curve.

Step 2: The concept Normally, a higher wage rate encourages workers to supply more hours of labour, so the supply curve slopes upward. This is the substitution effect: leisure becomes more expensive, so workers give up leisure for work.

At very high wage levels, workers earn enough income to meet their needs. They then prefer to enjoy more leisure and work fewer hours. This is the income effect. When the income effect outweighs the substitution effect, the quantity of labour supplied falls even though the wage keeps rising.

Step 3: The shape of the curve

• At low to moderate wages, the supply curve slopes upward.
• Beyond a certain wage level, the curve bends back toward the vertical axis, because workers supply fewer hours as wages rise further.

This is the backward-bending supply curve of labour.

Step 4: Check the options

• A. Positively sloping: this describes the normal case where higher wages mean more labour, not the preference for leisure.
• B. Perfectly elastic: this would mean workers supply unlimited labour at one wage, which is not the case here.
• C. Backward bending: this matches the description.
• D. Perfectly inelastic: this would mean the labour supplied does not change at all with wages, which is not the case here.

The correct answer is C. backward bending supply curve.

Exam tip: Whenever you see "leisure preferred to work as wages rise," think backward-bending labour supply curve. Remember: "High pay, more play."