ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a conceptual framework that provides a "way of looking at" work structures and markets. It argues that work structures are complementary and interrelated in theoretically meaningful and important ways. The book examines societal and historical influences, operating through each of four critically important markets, and largely determines the correlates of work structures. It discusses some key issues raised by a multidimensional view of work structures and markets by the expedient and illustrative use of the other contributions. The book focuses on the consequences of work structures rather than on how these structures derive from the operation of markets. Work structures and markets are central foci for sociologists and economists seeking to explain a variety of phenomena related to work and industry. The importance of work structures derives ultimately from their significant consequences for a wide range of social phenomena.
