Overview

Originally published in 1971, this wide-ranging study illuminates many crucial wage and employment issues by examining the operation of local labour markets and by testing labour market theory against the observed behaviour of employers and employees in different labour market environments. It is based on an empirical investigation of engineering plants both in major conurbations and in smaller labour market areas. There is an emphasis on measurement and quantification, which provides a fund of information on such subjects as wage structures, labour turnover, recruitment and mobility, internal labour markets, manpower forecasting, apprentice training and redundancy. The authors outline the weaknesses of applying economic theory to labour market behaviour.