Employment Policy in Rhondda-Cynon-Taff as Judged by its Targets

Foreign investment by corporations has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, and the encouragement of such investment, including the awarding of sizable grants, is now seen as a solution to the problem of unemployment in depressed areas of industrialized economies. The article reports the results of an ethnographic study conducted in one such area: Rhondda-Cynon-Taff in South Wales. Respondents reported their resentment of the policy, which they saw as diverting resources from local economic regeneration. They were cynical about the motivations of the incoming companies. They also offered interesting views on the informal economy in the area, the operation of active labor market policies, and the failure of labor market incentives.