Final answer:
Scott values leisure less than Joshua because Scott's labor supply increases with higher wages, whereas Joshua starts working fewer hours once a certain wage is reached. This indicates that Scott has a lower marginal benefit from leisure and is more willing to substitute leisure for work as his wage increases.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question involves analyzing how the labor supply schedules of Joshua and Scott change as wages increase, which relates to the concept of the labor-leisure tradeoff in economics. According to the provided schedules, at lower wages, both Joshua and Scott increase their hours worked as wages rise, reflecting a typical positive sloped labor supply curve. However, as the wage increases further, we see that Scott’s hours worked continue to increase up to a certain high wage level ($20) before stabilizing, while Joshua’s hours worked begin to decrease after wages hit $18, suggesting a backward-bending labor supply curve.
Scott's marginal benefit from leisure is lower compared to Joshua's, given that Scott continues to increase his labor supply even at higher wages, while Joshua values leisure more as wages increase, choosing to work fewer hours. This is evidenced by how Scott's hours worked peak at a higher wage than Joshua's hours before decreasing, indicating Scott needs a higher wage to give up his leisure time compared to Joshua. Therefore, Scott is more responsive to wage increases in terms of increasing labor supply before reaching a point of saturation, whereas Joshua starts reducing his work hours earlier as his wage increases due to the higher utility he derives from leisure compared to work.