The rise to prominence of the service sector - heralded over half a century ago as the great hope for the twenty-first century - has come to fruition. In many cases, employment in the service sector now outnumbers that in manufacturing sectors, and it is accepted that in all developed countries, the service sector is the only one in which employment will grow in future. The reasons for this is the subject of much controversy and debate, the outcomes of which are not merely of academic interest but of decisive importance for economic policy and the quality of working and living conditions in future. In order to examine these various arguments, research teams from eight European countries worked together for three years on a comparative study of the evolution of service sector employment in EU member states. They also investigated working and employment conditions in five very different service industries (banking, retailing, hospitals, IT services and care of the elderly) in a number of countries, and the results of their research are presented in this informative new collection, of interest to students academics and researchers involved in all aspects of industrial economics.

Series Information:
Routledge Studies in Business Organizations and Networks

In developed countries, the food superstore or hypermarket has become the dominant mode of food distribution; and their success has transformed the retail sector. But each new store has changed the employment regime of the stores they replace. For retailers, labour is a major cost; with opening hours being extended, and consumer demand patterns changing, one solution has been the use of part-time labour. Extensive use of such labour characterises British food retailing for example whereas it is less common in France. This book examines the reasons for such differences, and the potential which management and employees have within the operation to manage working time to their benefit. This book makes use of a four country research programme, covering France, Germany, Great Britain and Japan. Investigations and interviews at store, company and individual level, paint a picture of working time in the sector and in each of the countries. The volume provides some explanations for national differences as well as the similarities; supply and demand issues, as well as societal and social backgrounds. Large format food retailing is a major force in each country, employing millions in many di

Der Band bilanziert in 30 Beitragen das wissenschaftliche Werk des geschaftsfuhrenden Direktors des Instituts Arbeit und Qualifikation, Gerhard Bosch. Autorinnen und Autoren aus politischer Praxis und Wissenschaft kommen gleichberechtigt zu Wort. Das Buch ist in die Kapitel "Zukunft der Arbeit", "Arbeitszeit", "Arbeitsbeziehungen", "Arbeitsmarktordnung" und "Arbeitsmarktpolitik" gegliedert und schliesst mit einer UEbersicht uber die zentralen Publikationen von Gerhard Bosch ab.

Der Begriff des Finanzmarktkapitalismus wird in der deutschen Soziologie vielfach als neue Interpretationsfolie der aktuellen Entwicklungstendenzen des Kapitalismus genutzt. Die Akzentuierung der analytischen Inhalte, die mit dem Begriff jeweils verbunden werden, ist dabei breit gefachert. Im vorliegenden Band werden Brucken geschlagen zwischen der sich darum entwickelnden theoretischen Diskussion und einer anwendungsorientierten Arbeitsforschung. Daraus ergeben sich auch neue Anregungen fur die soziologische Debatte uber den Finanzmarktkapitalismus. Das Buch versammelt Arbeiten aus verschiedenen Forschungsvorhaben der Abteilung Arbeitszeit und Arbeitsorganisation am Institut Arbeit und Qualifikation (IAQ) der Universitat Duisburg-Essen.