New perspectives on work and wages

Lund/Häckeberga October 13-15 2010

How the labor market functions, and the outcomes for individuals and groups are important research areas in both economic history and labor economics. The historical development of labor markets, related institutions, and the organization of work and the workplace are major topics in our discipline. There are long-standing debates concerning the efficiency of labor markets, the role of institutions, the interaction of technology and the organization of labor. In addition, there exists strong comparative work, contrasting, for example, the different experiences of follower economies. Analysis takes place at all levels, from the individual worker to the whole economy, from micro-analyses of individual firms and industries in one point of time, to long run studies at the whole economy level. With this conference we wish to shed further light on wage differentials and labour market outcomes for different categories of workers since the Industrial Revolution and onwards, on gender differentials regarding work and wages in different industries, the development and returns of the career concept and professionalization, notably during the transition to an increasingly more service-based economy in the 20th century, the roles of labor market institutions and labor management, in not only Britain and the US but also in other contexts. A number of high-ranking scholars from a number of countries will participate. Financial support from Handelsbankens forskningsstiftelse and the Crafoord Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.