Escape from the Market: Negotiating Work in Lancashire
Cambridge University Press
Edition: First Edition, 9/12/1996
EAN 9780521561518, ISBN10: 0521561515
Hardcover, 242 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm
Language: English
At the outset of the industrial revolution the Lancashire labour market was a model of thoroughgoing competition. Wages adjusted quickly and smoothly to changes in the demand for and supply of labour. Within two generations, however, workers and firms had retreated from the market. Instead of busting wages, firms paid fixed rates; instead of breaking ties on short notice, workers sought longer-term associations. Social norms - doing the right thing - protected and preserved the fresh labour market arrangements. This book explains the causes and effects of changes in the labour market in the context of developments in labour economics and fresh research in social and economic history.
List of figures
List of tables
Preface
Glossary
List of abbreviations
1. Introduction
the myth of the Lancashire labour market
Part I. Labour Market Failure?
2. Custom against the market
the early labour market
3. Principals and agents
the labour market into the second generation
4. Who's minding the mill? The supervision problem
Part II. The Economics of Piece-Rate Bargaining
5. The fair wage model
Part III. How Did Labour Markets Really Work?
6. Fair and unfair wages
1825–50
7. Short hours and seniority in the 'hungry 'forties'
8. Rules and standards
wage lists in Lancashire
Part IV. Conclusion
9. More lessons from the cotton mills
Notes
Bibliography
Index.