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Labour market segmentation in Britain: the decline of occupational labour markets and the spread of ‘entry tournaments'

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  • Marsden, David

Abstract

This paper reviews the changing pattern of labour market segmentation in Britain since the mid-1970s. In the early 1980s, industrial labour markets in Britain, along with Germany, could be characterised as dominated by occupational labour markets for skilled workers compared with the predominance of firm internal labour markets in France and Italy. These provided for structured entry paths into the relevant occupations and jobs. Britain’s position in this picture has changed as a result of the decline of industrial employment and the institutions on which these occupational markets were built. The second part of the article searches for new models whose importance is increasing in Britain. It examines the spread of highly competitive conditions for entry into certain service sector activities, such as the media, and ‘knowledge intensive’ services where employment has been growing rapidly. The paper presents evidence that some of these sectors have come to be characterised by prolonged ‘entry tournaments’. These are driven by ease of entry at the bottom, growth of earnings at the top, and a struggle for access to the higher status, stable, positions within the occupation.

Suggested Citation

  • Marsden, David, 2007. "Labour market segmentation in Britain: the decline of occupational labour markets and the spread of ‘entry tournaments'," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 3305, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:3305
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/3305/
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Marsden, David, 2010. "The growth of extended 'entry tournaments' and the decline of institutionalised occupational labour markets in Britain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28740, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Mireille Bruyère & Laurence Lizé, 2010. "Emploi et sécurité des trajectoires professionnelles : la nature de l'emploi détermine la sécurité des parcours professionnels," Post-Print hal-00541065, HAL.
    3. Giulio Pedrini, 2020. "Off‐the‐job training and the shifting role of part‐time and temporary employment across institutional models. Comparing Italian and British firms," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 427-453, September.
    4. Alex Bryson & Christine Erhel & Zinaida Salibekyan, 2021. "Perceptions of non-pecuniary job quality using linked employer–employee data," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(2), pages 113-129, June.
    5. Yeosun Yoon & Heejung Chung, 2016. "New Forms of Dualization? Labour Market Segmentation Patterns in the UK from the Late 90s Until the Post-crisis in the Late 2000s," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 609-631, September.
    6. Alexander Bryson & Christine Erhel & Zinaida Salibekyan, 2019. "Perceptions of non-pecuniary job quality using linked employer–employee data," Post-Print hal-02965966, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Internal labour markets; Segmented labour markets; Professional labour markets and occupations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations
    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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