Overwork is generally seen as a self-imposed condition.  Pay of course plays a role since a primary reason for working to begin with is to earn money.  Most interesting to me is how people regularly overwork in the present for the chance of a significant pay increase in the distant future.

Tournament pay structures, which tie steep wage differentials to relative differences in performance, are designed to encourage such behavior.  Best performers are rewarded disproportionately more than the next best performer.  This motivates greater work effort as employees compete for the top prize—as they vie for promotion to higher paying management positions, for instance.  Research shows the amount of work hours preferred by aspiring managers is positively related to the number of hours worked by their coworkers. 

Tournament type overwork incentives are strongest for young workers since they have more work years left to gain from a future promotion.  The tradeoff is a rational one, but also a bit reminiscent of J. Wellington Wimpy’s angle to gladly pay Tuesday for a hamburger today.