Bowden, S., Higgins, D.M. and Price, C. (2006) A Very Peculiar Practice: Underemployment in Britain during the Interwar Years. European Review of Economic History, 10 (1). pp. 89-108. ISSN 1361-4916
Abstract
This article presents new evidence on the determinants of short-time working in Britain during the interwar period. Using a selection of manufacturing industries we test the impact that output volatility, the benefit-wage ratio, and trade union density had on short-time working. We find that persistence effects (captured by lagged values of output fluctuation) and gender differences in trade union density were important for a number of industries. However, perhaps our most interesting finding is that the benefit-wage ratio also exercised a statistically significant impact on short-time working. This suggests that the Benjamin-Kochin thesis may be important after all. In other words, the army of short-time workers that existed in Britain between the Wars may, indeed, have been a ‘volunteer army’.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > The York Management School The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Economics and Related Studies (York) |
Depositing User: | York RAE Import |
Date Deposited: | 25 May 2009 14:40 |
Last Modified: | 04 Oct 2010 10:11 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1361491605001590 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S1361491605001590 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:6167 |