Wie lassen sich Entwicklung und Strukturen atypischer Beschäftigungsverhältnisse erklären?

The paper discusses the question, which driving forces are decisive for the development of forms of atypical employment. In a first step it describes long-term developments of part-time, marginal and fixed-term employment and temp agency work. Subsequently, it measures some arguments, submitted in the academic discourse, which are considered important for the explanation of the increase of atypical employment. It can be shown that macro arguments like tertiarisation or increasing labour market participation of women are not sufficient as long as micro aspects (e. g. arguments based on transaction cost economics) remain neglected. Furthermore, it has to be taken into account that the need of companies for more flexible staffing arrangements differs very much among the industries. Lastly, it is also necessary to include supply-side arguments like different time preferences of the employees as well as specific demand and supply relations on partial labour markets. Summing up, the author pleads for further theoretical efforts which should overcome monocausal explanations, combine different dimensions, and aim at a comprehensive model that is able to integrate atypical employment into the superior context of flexible work.