Labor Market Segmentation Theory Research Articles

Firm Size, Occupational Segregation, and the Effects of Family Status on Women's Wages

Explanations of the effect of family status on women's work outcomes have focused primarily on individualistic factors, that is, married women's family responsibilities are assumed to interfere with their work performance. Few studies have considered a structural explanation-employers may prefer single and childless women as employees, perhaps because they are assumed to have lower turnover rates than married women with children. This paper tests the structural explanation, using hypotheses derived from labor market segmentation theory. The analysis, based on data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature Women, indicates that the wage advantage of single and childless women is stronger in large firms, where employers are more able to offer promotions and wage increases, and in male-dominated occupations, where employers are more likely to value stable uorkers who will remain with the firm.

Firm Size, Occupational Segregation, and the Effects of Family Status on Women's Wages

Explanations of the effect of family status on women's work outcomes have focused primarily on individualistic factors, that is, married women's family responsibilities are assumed to interfere with their work performance. Few studies have considered a structural explanation—employers may prefer single and childless women as employees, perhaps because they are assumed to have lower turnover rates than married women with children. This paper tests the structural explanation, using hypotheses derived from labor market segmentation theory. The analysis, based on data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature Women, indicates that the wage advantage of single and childless women is stronger in large firms, where employers are more able to offer promotions and wage increases, and in male-dominated occupations, where employers are more likely to value stable workers who will remain with the firm.

Paternalism and entrepreneurship the emergence of state-made entrepreneurs

This article considers the government's role in encouraging or hampering entrepreneurs. Following the analysis by Jurgen Habermas (16) of state regulated capitalism, the article will focus on a sociological analysis of paternalism in establishment-industrial entrepreneurship relations. A type of entrepreneur emerges as the result of establishment nurture, which we shall here call state-made entrepreneurs. The segmented labor market theory and its application to the field of entrepreneurship will serve as a theoretical starting point for the investigation of the problem of various patterns of entrepreneurship which develop in a society in which there exists massive paternalistic government intervention in the economy.

Labour Market Segmentation Theory

(1989). Labour Market Segmentation Theory. Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work: Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 119-144.

Sources of Variation in Labour Market Segmentation: A Comparison of Youth Labour Markets in Canada and Britain

In spite of superficial similarities in the levels of unemployment this paper reveals major differences in the structure of the youth labour markets in Canada and Britain. It argues that labour market segmentation theory by according primacy to such factors as product markets, industrial structures and technology, can provide only a partial explanation for the observed difference. A more adequate explanation will have to take greater cognizance of the interaction between political, cultural and social factors which are seen to exert an independent effect on the structure of youth labour markets.

Reducing Occupational Sex Segregation: Explaining Failure and Success

Abstract Recent developments in theory and public policy regarding occupational sex segregation are reviewed and evaluated. It is argued that the shift away from individual and sex role explanations and toward structural explanations is an important step forward In particular, socialist feminist and labor market segmentation theories provide useful frameworks for understanding the obstacles to occupational integration. However, in order to understand both the failures and the successes of attempts to reduce segregation, a neo-Weberian conflict model is more fruitful This model recognizes that social outcomes may reflect the power of capital or patriarchy, but they may also reflect sources of power and group interest which cut across those categories. The usefulness of this approach is illustrated through an examination of three empirical questions: 1) Why did the rate of sex segregation decline for the first time in the 1970's; 2) Why did segregation decline significantly more in some occupations than others; and 3) Why have corporate executives become more favorable in their attitudes toward affirmative action? Answers to these questions are sought by examining the role of state power and the groups which influence it, the interests of management at different levels of the organization, and the interests of union leaders and members.

An empirical test of the segmented labour market theory for the Netherlands

In this paper an orthodox segmented labour market theory (SLM theory)is tested by means of the data provided by the research project, Quality of Labour 1977 (Zanders et al., 1977). The segmented labour market theory is restricted to the dual labour market approach, although a major extension is taken into account (a primary segment consisting of two tiers). The segments are created by making use of an objectivemethod. Nine quality characteristics of jobs are taken into account. A number of logit estimations are carried out to test the competing theories of human capital and the segmented labour market. The conclusion is that although discrimination in the labour market appears to exist, the SLM theory has to be rejected.

Labor Market Segmentation and Librarian Salaries

Librarian earnings functions have been found to differ by type of library and by sex within library type. The present study uses segmented labor market theory to explain how the structure of the library labor market may determine salary differences by type of library. Data on the public, academic, and school library labor markets are used to show that the library labor market is segmented by type of library; that this segmentation contributes to the observed differences in earnings functions by type of library; and that the segmentation of the library labor market reflects segmentation of the labor market generally. A secondary result of this study is that it shows the value of intraoccupational studies like this one for a full understanding of labor market segmentation. By finding evidence of labor market segmentation at the intraoccupational level, it shows that the more usual approach to segmented labor markets, comparing entire occupations or industries, may obscure important differences.

Allocation and the earnings function

This paper stresses the view that earnings differentials should be interpreted in the light of allocation in the labor market. A model is developed that acknowledges the difference between individual levels of characteristics and the levels of such characteristics required in the job. It is applied to data sets for the Netherlands, with education as the most important variable. Neither the individual's education nor the requirements of the job alone are sufficient to determine earnings: they should be considered jointly. The earnings function containing allocation thus proves superior to the function derived from either human capital theory or from segmented labor market theory.

"Nice Work If You Can Get It": Segmentation of White and Black Women Workers in the Post-War Period

This article examines the convergence of black and white women's incomes, labor force participation rates in capitalist production and the state sector, and convergence of occupational distributions. It is argued that current labor market segmentation theory does not explain the existence and persistence of the racial and sexual division of paid labor. It then considers whether labor market segmentation theory can be refined to explain these changes in the labor market experiences of black and white women in the post WWII period. It is argued that since racism and patriarchy play important roles in the control of labor and the organization of work both historically and theoretically, segmentation theory can only provide an adequate explanation of the development of segmented markets and their racial and gender components by explicitly recognizing racism and patriarchy. Labor market segmentation is the historical process creating labor markets differentiated by race and sex in capitalist and government workplaces.

Unwelcome Immigrants: The Labor Market Experiences of 1980 (Mariel) Cuban and Haitian Refugees in South Florida

This article examines the situation of 2 recently arrived and disadvantaged immigrant groups in the context of 2 competing theoretical traditions: classical assimilation and recent labor market segmentation theories. Predictions of both concerning US labor market entry of foreign minorities and determinants of subsequent mobility are tested on the basis of representative surveys; most are not confirmed. The analysis supports the hypothesis of heterogeneous modes of incorporation into the labor market including substantial numbers of refugees who remain outside of it. Sizable proportions have only managed to find fringe employment in a energing informal economy in south Florida. Among Cubans employment in the ethnic enclave is associated with positive returns comparable to those of entry into the primary labor market. Haitians lack an enclave option and thus cluster into secondary and informal employment although most remain without work. Determinants of these various situations are examined on the basis of multivariate logistic regressions. Implications of results for immigration theory and policy are discussed. (authors)

Earnings functions: Testing for the demand side

To analyze labor market phenomena, one may simultaneously grade workers (by education) and jobs (by level of difficulty and complexity). Human capital theory predicts earnings based on only worker quality. Thurow's version of a segmented labor market theory predicts that only the job level is relevant, and the assignment theory predicts that both variables are relevant. Using three different data sets for The Netherlands, testing demonstrates convincingly the superiority of the assignment theory.

THE ROLE OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN THE MIGRATION PROCESS: A TEST OF PROBABILISTIC MIGRATION MODELS AND LABOUR MARKET SEGMENTATION FOR INDIA *

A basic hypothesis of probabilistic migration models is that informal sector employment is a temporary staging post for new migrants on their way to formal sector employment. In this paper the authors argue that there are no conclusive tests of this hypothesis in the empirical migration literature and examine evidence from a sample survey to test if the informal sector in Delhi performs the role postulated in probabilistic models. The authors also test some of the main hypotheses of the segmented labor market theory a popular alternative to neoclassical theory for analyzing the structure of urban labor markets in developing countries. The empirical evidence indicates that the migration process postulated in probabilistic models does not seem to be realistic in the case of Delhi and that the segmentation model is only partially valid. Over 1/2 of the informal sector entrants had been attracted to Delhi by opportunities in this sector itself; actual and potential mobility from the informal to the formal sector was low; education and urban experience were rewarded at the same rate in both sectors; and education was 1 of the important determinants of mobility between sectors. (authors)

Occupational licensing and minorities.

The costs of occupational licensing fall disproportionately on minorities and the poor. Licensing seeks to eliminate the lower-quality, lower-price services that low-income consumers would be more likely to select. Perhaps more important, however, is the impact on workers who are denied entry into the occupation. Recent evidence confirms that licensing regulations esclude less-educated and minority workers more than proportionally. The consequences for these excluded workers include unemployment or lower earnings—either by moving to a less-favored occupation or practicing without a license. The outcomes ofnonprofessional trades regulated by licensing are similar to those predicted by segmented labor market theory. Those who fail to obtain the credential (license) are denied access to the trade even if they are no less productive.

Sex Segregation in the U.S. Labor Force

This paper examines the structure and development of sex segregation in the U.S. labor force between 1950 and 1979. The findings show that there has been a considerable degree of stability in the overall extent of sex segregation during the postwar period. There has been some tendency for employment in exclusively male occupations to decline as a percentage of the total male labor force, but this has been counterbalanced by a tendency for women workers to become more concentrated in exclusively female occupations. Beneath this overall stability in the extent of sex segregation there are important differences in the patterns of sex segregation in different occupational sectors. In general, there has been a significant decline in the degree of sex segregation in middle-class (i.e., professional, technical and managerial) occupations during the postwar period, while segregation in working-class (i.e., blue-collar and lower whitecollar) occupations has remained stable or increased in some cases. These results are interpreted within the framework of segmented labor market theory and in terms of the differential interests of employers and male employees in the preservation of occupational sex segregation. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these findings for the development of strategies to reduce sex segregation in occupations.

Segmented Labor Market Theories and the Australian Experience of Equal Pay for Women

Recently, there has been an upsurge of interest in segmentation and rigidities in labor markets that are associated with relative wages, the job creation process, and access to particular jobs. Reder (1955) and Thurow (1975), for example, have emphasized relative wage rigidities and argued that employment is allocated across industries and occupations by the creation and destruction of job opportunities and not by changes in relative wages. Wages are determined largely by social custom and institutional factors, and queues of workers at each fixed wage constitute the supply curve of labor.

The Location of Change in the Sexual Structure of Occupations, 1950-1970: Insights from Labor Market Segmentation Theory

Empirical analyses of inequality trends indicates that gender differentials have remained highly stable in the United States since World War II. We challenge such conclusions of extreme stability with respect to the sexual structure of occupations. The primary focus is on shifts in gender composition, because different occupational distributions of men and women are now regarded as the major source of differential work rewards. We demonstrate that conventional measures of shifts in occupational sexual structure ignore the location and direction of change and that substantively important variations have occured since 1950. But our primary objective is to explain those changes. After indicating that other perspectives fail to account for observed patterns of sex composition change, we suggest complementarities between economists' labor market segmentation approaches and occupational sex segregation. Although our empirical representation of market segments is heuristic, results of analyses of U.S. census data from 1950 to 1970 are largely consistent with a dual labor market interpretation of changes in occupational sexual structure. We conclude with brief mention of substative and policy implications of these findings.