Urban Restructuring Revisited: Organizational and Labor Market Changes during the 1980S

Abstract

This research revisits the structural determinants of changing job prospects at the bottom of urban labor markets during the 1980s, measured in terms of employment instability, earnings inequality, and low-income jobs. In addition to the deindustrialization thesis, hypotheses are drawn from recent perspectives on new industrial districts, global cities, and the “new” social division of labor. Statistical analyses reveal that the organization, rather than the size, of the local manufacturing base, the proliferation of small establishments, and industrial diversification are among the most crucial processes for understanding the shifting contours of urban inequality during the 1980s. The implication is that social scientists must continue to look beyond quantitative shifts in employment from manufacturing to services to the qualitative reorganization of production in order to make sense of the structural underpinnings of today's urban inequality.