IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ehsrev/v57y2004i2p396-422.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The internal labour dynamics of the Great Eastern Railway Company, 1870–1913

Author

Listed:
  • PETER HOWLETT

Abstract

An important labour market development towards the end of the nineteenth century was the rise of the internal labour market. Railway companies were pioneers in this area, and this article presents an analysis of the career histories of 848 traffic staff workers of the Great Eastern Railway Company. This large longitudinal sample provides the first detailed account of the internal labour dynamics of a pre‐1914 railway company, providing a unique insight into an early internal labour market. It shows that there was a clearly structured market for unskilled entrants, that promotion and demotion were an important managerial tool, and that there was a significant wage premium for promotion.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Howlett, 2004. "The internal labour dynamics of the Great Eastern Railway Company, 1870–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 57(2), pages 396-422, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:57:y:2004:i:2:p:396-422
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2004.00282.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0289.2004.00282.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1468-0289.2004.00282.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Seltzer, Andrew J. & Simons, Kenneth L., 2001. "Salaries and Career Opportunities in the Banking Industry: Evidence from the Personnel Records of the Union Bank of Australia," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 195-224, April.
    2. Crafts N. F. R. & Mills Terence C., 1994. "Trends in Real Wages in Britain, 1750-1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 176-194, April.
    3. H. M. Boot, 1991. "Salaries and career earnings in the Bank of Scotland, 1730-1880," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 44(4), pages 629-653, November.
    4. Peter Howlett, 2000. "Evidence of the Existence of an Internal Labour Market in the Great Eastern Railway Company, 1875-1905," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(1), pages 21-40.
    5. Siebert, W S & Addison, J T, 1991. "Internal Labour Markets: Causes and Consequences," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 76-92, Spring.
    6. Baker, George & Holmstrom, Bengt, 1995. "Internal Labor Markets: Too Many Theories, Too Few Facts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 255-259, May.
    7. Hannah, Leslie, 1985. "Why Employer-based Pension Plans? The Case of Britain," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(2), pages 347-354, June.
    8. Seltzer, Andrew & Merrett, David T, 2000. "Personnel Policies at the Union Bank of Australia: Evidence from the 1888-1900 Entry Cohorts," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(4), pages 573-613, October.
    9. H. M. Boot, 1999. "Real incomes of the British middle class, 1760-1850: the experience of clerks at the East India Company," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 52(4), pages 638-668, November.
    10. George Baker & Michael Gibbs & Bengt Holmstrom, 1994. "The Internal Economics of the Firm: Evidence from Personnel Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 881-919.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Seltzer & André Sammartino, 2009. "Internal Labour Markets: Evidence From Two Large Australian Employers," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 49(2), pages 107-137, July.
    2. Catherine Haeck & Frank Verboven, 2012. "The Internal Economics of a University: Evidence from Personnel Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(3), pages 591-626.
    3. Hanno Scholtz, 2008. "Does Inequality Rise from Above or from Below? Understanding Income Skewness Trends in 16 OECD Countries, 1985-2005," LIS Working papers 504, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    4. Burnette, Joyce & Stanfors, Stanfors, 2018. "Understanding the gender gap among turn-of-the-century Swedish compositors," Working Paper Series 2018:1, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    5. Anderson, Peter, 2018. "‘Tall and lithe’–The wage-height premium in the Victorian and Edwardian British railway industry," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 152-162.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew Seltzer & André Sammartino, 2009. "Internal Labour Markets: Evidence From Two Large Australian Employers," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 49(2), pages 107-137, July.
    2. Jed DeVaro & Michael Waldman, 2012. "The Signaling Role of Promotions: Further Theory and Empirical Evidence," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(1), pages 91-147.
    3. Grund, Christian, 2002. "The Wage Policy of Firms: Comparative Evidence for the U.S. and Germany from Personnel Data," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers 30/2002, University of Bonn, Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE).
    4. Nakabayashi, Masaki, 2011. "Schooling, employer learning, and internal labor market effect: Wage dynamics and human capital investment in the Japanese steel industry, 1930-1960s," MPRA Paper 30597, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Belzil, Christian & Bognanno, Michael & Poinas, François, 2012. "Promotion Determinants in Corporate Hierarchies: An Examination of Fast Tracks and Functional Area," TSE Working Papers 12-348, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    6. Catherine Haeck & Frank Verboven, 2012. "The Internal Economics of a University: Evidence from Personnel Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(3), pages 591-626.
    7. Christian Belzil & Michael Bognanno, 2008. "Promotions, Demotions, Halo Effects, and the Earnings Dynamics of American Executives," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 287-310, April.
    8. John M. Barrios, 2022. "Occupational Licensing and Accountant Quality: Evidence from the 150‐Hour Rule," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 3-43, March.
    9. Seltzer, Andrew, 2010. "Did firms cut nominal wages in a deflationary environment?: Micro-level evidence from the late 19th and early 20th century banking industry," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 112-125, January.
    10. Charles Fahey & André Sammartino, 2013. "Work and Wages at a Melbourne Factory, the Guest Biscuit Works 1870–1921," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(1), pages 22-46, March.
    11. C. Sofia Machado & Miguel Portela, 2011. "Age and opportunities for promotion," NIPE Working Papers 03/2011, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    12. Kräkel, Matthias & Schöttner, Anja, 2008. "Relative Performance Pay, Bonuses, and Job-Promotion Tournaments," IZA Discussion Papers 3702, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Seltzer, Andrew J. & Simons, Kenneth L., 2001. "Salaries and Career Opportunities in the Banking Industry: Evidence from the Personnel Records of the Union Bank of Australia," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 195-224, April.
    14. Dohmen, Thomas J., 2004. "Performance, seniority, and wages: formal salary systems and individual earnings profiles," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(6), pages 741-763, December.
    15. Paul Hek & Daniel Vuuren, 2011. "Are older workers overpaid? A literature review," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 18(4), pages 436-460, August.
    16. Merrett, D. T., 2002. "The internationalization of Australian banks," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 12(4-5), pages 377-397.
    17. Steven E. Phelan & Zhiang Lin, 2001. "Promotion Systems and Organizational Performance: A Contingency Model," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 207-232, October.
    18. Carr, Michael D., 2011. "Work hours and wage inequality: Evidence from the 2004 WERS," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 417-427, August.
    19. Charness, Gary & Kuhn, Peter, 2011. "Lab Labor: What Can Labor Economists Learn from the Lab?," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 3, pages 229-330, Elsevier.
    20. Sato, Kaori & Hashimoto, Yuki & Owan, Hideo, 2019. "Gender differences in Career," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:57:y:2004:i:2:p:396-422. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ehsukea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.