ABSTRACT
If you were lost in a dense forest of pine trees, which would you prefer to have – a compass or knowledge of the maximum width of the forest? The first would keep you on a straight line, but the second would be more reassuring and comforting, because it would define the limits of your problems. It is the big picture which really helps. The purpose here is to paint a portrait of a labour market in such a way as to show how its economic imperatives and technical imperatives are integrated by structures and behavioural patterns.
