Atypical Employment I - Atypical Employment and Social Inequality


The research project "Atypische Beschäftigung und soziale Ungleichheit" explores socio-economic consequences of "atypical" employment relationships. "Atypical" or "flexible" employment relationships differ from the "Normalarbeitsverhältnis" (standard employment relationship) in at least one of the dimensions such as the flexibility of working time or the degree of employment protection. Part-time employment and fixed-term contracts are the two types of atypical employment that are most frequently observed and therefore pivotal in our research project.

Considering sociological and economic labour market theories we hypothesise how those two types of atypical employment affect the structure and the extent of social inequality. The central question is if and to what extent atypical employment contributes either to the segmentation of the labour market or to the integration of formerly excluded groups into the labour market.

To answer this question we analyse data from Germany (Microcensus and Socio-Economic Panel), Great Britain (British Labour Force Survey and British Household Panel) and the Netherlands (Sociaal-economisch Panelonderzoek). We choose the comparative approach to investigate the structural consequences of atypical employment under varying institutional settings.

Investigating the impact of atypical employment we mainly consider two dimensions of social inequality: income inequality and social mobility. So far, we have analysed the effects of part-time and fixed-term employment on income. Furthermore, research is done on the consequences of atypical employment on the process of intragenerational mobility. Using event history analysis, a first step was to model transitions between different states of employment such as "full-time employment", "part-time employment" or "out of the labour market".

Up to now the research focused on the comparison between Germany and Great Britain. Investigations of the impact of atypical employment in the dutch labour market will follow. Another main focus for further research is the analysis of panel models which concentrate on income and status differences within the three countries of interest.

Principal investigators
Wegener, Bernd Prof. i.R. Dr. Dr. h.c. (Details) (Empirical Social Science Research)

Financer
DFG Individual Research Grant

Duration of project
Start date: 07/2000
End date: 06/2002

Research Areas
Arbeitsmarktforschung, industrielle Beziehungen, Ungleichheitsforschung

Publications
Groß, Martin und Wegener, Bernd (im Erscheinen): Institutionen, Schließung und soziale Ungleichheit; in: Schwinn, T. (Hrsg.): Differenzierung und soziale Ungleichheit. Die zwei Soziologien und ihre Verbindung (Arbeitstitel).



Giesecke, Johannes und Groß, Martin (2003): Temporary Employment: Chance or Risk?; in: European Sociological Review 19 (2): 161-177.



Giesecke, Johannes und Groß, Martin (2002): Befristete Beschäftigung: Chance oder Risiko?; in: Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie 54: 85-108.



Groß, Martin (2001): Auswirkung des Wandels der Erwerbsgesellschaft auf soziale Ungleichheit. Effekte befristeter Beschäftigung auf Einkommensungleichheit; in: Berger, P. A. und Konietzka, D. (Hrsg.): Die Erwerbsgesellschaft. Neue Ungleichheiten und Unsicherheiten, Opladen: 119-155.



Groß, Martin (2000): Flexible Beschäftigungsverhältnisse und Einkommensungleichheit. Vortrag auf der 2. Nutzerkonferenz "Forschung mit dem Mikrozensus: Analysen zur Sozialstruktur und zum Arbeitsmarkt" in Mannheim, 12.+13. Oktober 2000.



Arbeitsberichte

Vogel, Claudia und Weber, Melanie (2002): Continuity or Discontinuity? An Event History Analysis of British Part-Time Careers. Paper presented at the fourth ECSR Summer School: Education, Labour Markets and Employment Relations. Amsterdam, 28 August - 3 September. (ABSU 15)



René Greffin, Christiane Klügel, Nicolas Loose, Johann Müller, Miriam Stern und Tanja Zähle (2002): Flexibilisierung des Arbeitsmarktes: Chance oder Risiko? Methodenbericht zur Telefonumfrage. ABSU Arbeitsbericht Berlin. (ABSU 13)



Giesecke, Johannes und Groß, Martin (2002): Externe Arbeitsmarktflexibilisierung und soziale Ungleichheit. Deutschland und Großbritannien im Vergleich. ABSU Arbeitsbericht Berlin. (ABSU 12)



Giesecke, Johannes und Groß, Martin (2002): External Labour Market Flexibility and Social Inequality. A Comparison between Germany and the UK. Paper presented at the XVth ISA World Congress of Sociology in Brisbane, July 7-13 2002. (ABSU 11)



Loose, Nicolas und Greffin, René (2001): Leiharbeit, Telearbeit und Scheinselbständigkeit. ABSU Arbeitsbericht Berlin. (ABSU 08)



Groß, Martin und Vogel, Claudia (2001): Flexible Employment and Income Inequality in Great Britain and West Germany. Paper presented at the Work, Employment & Society Conference, University of Nottingham, September 11-13 2001 and at the EuroConference on European Welfare States and Changing Life Courses: European Societies or European Society? Kerkrade, The Netherlands, Oktober 6-10 2001. (ABSU 07)



Groß, Martin (2000): Flexible Employment and Income Inequality. Paper presented at the RC28 Meeting in Libourne "The 50th Anniversary of RC28: Achievements and Outlooks", May 11-14 2000. (ABSU 05)

Last updated on 2025-15-01 at 22:00