ABSTRACT
The changing nature of work is a topic much debated from a variety of perspectives but the analysis often lacks an integrated theoretical framework with which to underpin it. The changing nature of work is often treated by the economics profession and by some management theorists as the outcome of unstoppable market or technological forces, involving the diffusion of best practice techniques. In contrast, for political scientists and industrial relations specialists, the driving force for change is the policy agenda, dominated by deregulation, in a context of globalisation and the diminishing power of the nation-state to protect labour (Coates 2000). And for sociologists, changes in work have to be understood within the changing relationship between work and the wider society, including the class structure (Crouch 2000). Economists try to incorporate these different dimensions to employment change within the same framework, and where this is attempted the results are usually at best partial. For example, it is common for economists to note the rising participation of women, but not to explore how this may affect the structure of working time, the pattern of pay and careers, the flexibility strategies pursued by firms or the impact of job generation on open unemployment.1 To consider the significance of the studies of the service sector generated by the NESY project for understanding the development of new forms of work and working time, a rather general framework is required. This framework needs to deal with both static comparative issues and dynamic developments. The latter include the shifting dynamics on the demand and the supply side of the labour market, in a context of changing regulatory and institutional environments.
