ABSTRACT
In Louisiana the wage structure in the major low-wage industry is fixed by statute. Wage determination of the secondary labor market which is not tied into the lower-tier wage structure appears to be characterized by stagnation rather than competition. There are various strata of the labor market where their relevance to actual wage-setting procedures is dubious. Very little is known about wage setting in the secondary sector. To fill this gap, wage-setting procedures in two labor markets were examined. The first included low-wage employments in Boston and some surrounding communities that had been selected as part of study on Puerto Rican migration into Boston. The second labor market visited for the study was a small town in western Louisiana. A considerable part of the secondary wage structure is tied into the primary sector, largely through union organization. The floor for the structure is also set institutionally, through minimum-wage legislation.
