Geographies of Labour Market Inequality (Regional Development and Public Policy Series)

In recent years, the local dimensions of the labor market have attracted increasing attention from academic analysts and public policy makers alike. There is growing realization that there is no such thing as the national labor market, instead a mosaic of local and regional markets that differ in nature, performance and regulation. Geographies of Labour Market Inequality is concerned with these multiple geographies of employment, unemployment, work and incomes, and their implications for public policy. The introduction sets out the case for thinking about the labor market in geographical terms, and discusses some of the challenges confronting labor markets in the contemporary period. In Part Two, the focus is on the processes that produce and reproduce inequalities in employment, unemployment and wages within and between local labor markets. Part Three then explores some of the strategies by which organized labor (unions) and the state are seeking to respond to and ameliorate the uncertainties and inequalities generated by the growing flexibility and fluidity of labor markets. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Contributors......Page 8 Preface......Page 9 1 Thinking about the geographies of labour......Page 12 2 Labour market risk and the regions: evidence from gross labour flws......Page 32 3 Unemployment and spatiallabour markets: strongadjustment and persistentconcentration......Page 64 4 Income inequality andresidential segregation: labourmarket sorting and thedemand for positional goods......Page 92 5 Employer strategies andthe fragmentation of localemployment: the case ofcontracting out local authorityservices......Page 119 6 The new economy, labourmarket inequalities andthe work life balance......Page 138 7 The union role in preservingjobs and communities: theemployee ownership option......Page 160 8 The local impact of the NewDeal: does geography makea difference?......Page 184 9 The geographies of a nationalminimum wage: the case ofthe UK......Page 217 10 The geographies of labourmarket inequality: someemergent issues and challenges......Page 250 Index......Page 274 In recent years, the local dimensions of the labour market have attracted increasing attention from academic analysts and public policy-makers alike. There is growing realization that there is no such thing as the national labour market, instead a mosaic of local and regional markets that differ in nature, performance and regulation. Geographies of Labour Market Inequality is concerned with these multiple geographies of employment, unemployment, work and incomes, and their implications for public policy. "The origins of this book reside in a special session of papers on Labour Market Geographies given at the Annual Conference of the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of Geographers held at the University of Sussex in January 2000." Preface This book explores the key role that place and location play in the operation of the labour market at a time when local context is becoming an integral part of the design and implementation of labour market policies