ABSTRACT
Economic transformation in the post-Second World War economy has entailed change in both what is produced and how that production is organized. Bell describes the implications of a service economy for postindustrial society's stratification system. The 1980 economy represents a more fully developed service economy. The United States became a "service society" around 1960 when proportionately more workers were employed in service industries than in transformative or extractive sectors. Service industries provide the best setting for meritocratic stratification principles to guide earnings determination. In service industries, advances in technology are also accompanied by the increasing Taylorization of work done by highly trained professionals and technicians. The growth of service industries also suggests that skill requirements will be more sharply divided among available jobs. Service industries can also take advantage of economies of scale, despite the limits localities place on market size.
