ABSTRACT
A critical element in the dynamics of segmentation was the existence of internal labor market structures in primary-sector firms and, conversely, the usual lack of equivalent structures in secondary-sector firms. In an informal way, the major challenge to the integrity of the white-male-dominated internal labor market structures came from the sheer growing weight of female and minority workers in the economy. A close examination of labor market transformation during the 1970s points to major changes, including a fundamental weakening of internal job ladders. The reliance of many firms on internal labor markets has been illustrated extensively. In labor terms, its impact is likely to be mostly indirect and widely diffused as productivity increases ripple far and deep throughout the economy and as consumers, workers, and firms alter their ways of relating to each other. The most serious challenge to the integrity of industrial dual labor markets came from the dismantling of various elements critical to articulation of internal labor markets.
