economics question?

[Maria]

I need a scenario that would cause a shift in labor supply and demand. for example I want to pick the health care industries. In what directi8on would the shift in labor supply and demand go?

[thenumberq2]

If you're talking specifically about the health care industry, then a shift in labour supply could be caused by increased non-wage benefits to being a doctor - for example if they cut the workload or provided more vacation time. This would make the job more attractive and would shift the labour supply curve outward (i.e. to the right) because more people would be willing to work at any given wage. The opposite would shift it left (e.g. if work conditions deteriorated).

As for demand, a good example might be an aging of the population (say, as the baby boomers get older), which will increase the demand for health professionals to the right. By contrast, if people improve their health by quitting smoking, for example, this could be seen as a shift left (ignore the fact that these people will eventually live longer and hit the system that way though). Since there is less demand for health services, there would be less demand at any price.

[Hambone]

Supply: Reducing the requirements for immigration (making it easier to come to the US) would increase the supply of nurses coming from other countries.

Demand: If healthcare were made free and available to all people there would be more demand for health services, increasing demand for medical professionals.