Hours and Wages in the Depression: British Engineering, 1926-1938

38 Pages Posted: 6 Jul 2000

See all articles by Robert A. Hart

Robert A. Hart

University of Stirling - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Date Written: March 2000

Abstract

On their intensive margins, firms in the British engineering industry adjusted to the severe falls in demand during the 1930s Depression by cutting hours of work. This provided an important means of reducing labour input and marginal labour costs, through movements from overtime to short-time schedules. Nominal wages dropped relatively modestly while real wages continued to rise throughout the trough years of the recession. Empirical work is based on cell data from a panel of 28 local labour markets for the period 1926-38. The data dichotomise between skilled fitters and unskilled labourers and between time-rate and piece-rate workers. The findings have interesting implications for Phillips curve and wage curve studies.

JEL Classification: E24, J31, N34

Suggested Citation

Hart, Robert A., Hours and Wages in the Depression: British Engineering, 1926-1938 (March 2000). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=224242 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.224242

Robert A. Hart (Contact Author)

University of Stirling - Department of Economics ( email )

Stirling, Scotland FK9 4LA
United Kingdom
+44 1786 467 471 (Phone)
+44 1786 467 469 (Fax)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
90
Abstract Views
1,939
Rank
513,029
PlumX Metrics