Primary and secondary labor markets differ in wages, stability, and credential value
Evidence
The primary segment is located predominantly in the corporate and state sectors, where jobs are characterized by relatively high wages and a modicum of job security assured through whiteand bluecollar unions. In the primary labor market sector, where bureaucratic order and the hierarchical division of labor is the rule, there are clear job ladders, seniority rules, and opportunities for promotion. Credentials of various types here play an important role and workers are predominantly … Alongside this primary sector, there is a secondary segment. Here jobs are characterized by low wages, great employment instability and worker turnover, and little unionization. In the secondary labor market, job lad ders are few and there is little chance for promotion. Educational creden tials are not important requirements for job entry; jobs leave little room for learning skills, and workers are not paid according to training and skills. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 672
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the split labor market and, crucially for this book’s thesis, shows credentials matter only in the primary segment.
- XREF: Connects to segmented labor market theory (Doeringer & Piore) and to ch25’s reserve army of skilled labor. — connects to: Uneven economic development fragments workers into distinct segmented groups — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 671; Schooling’s income payoff is twice as high for white males — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 923; Dual labor market theory frames migration as demand-driven by employers (+1 more)