IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/conmgt/v18y2000i6p689-698.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Craft versus industry: the division of labour in European housing construction

Author

Listed:
  • Linda Clarke
  • Christine Wall

Abstract

Two distinct divisions and concepts of labour are apparent from an analysis of social housebuilding sites in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands: the craft form, based on controlling the output of labour; and the industry form, based on the quality of labour input. These are associated with different work processes, skills and training, and also different levels of mechanization and component prefabrication. In the UK, which is craft-based, low levels of mechanization and prefabrication were found compared with Germany and the Netherlands, and the range of activities for the separate trades in assembling superstructure elements was simpler. Labourers are distinct from craftsmen and remain a significant group. Skills are narrow and training provision low. A high proportion of the labour force remains self-employed, under labour-only subcontractors, working to price or output. In comparison, in Germany and the Netherlands labour is employed directly and work processes are more complex, with more specialisms at the interfaces. The division of labour is industry-wide, training provision is extensive, and skills are broad and integrated into the grading structure. Greater speed, higher productivity and lower levels of supervision are associated with industry-wide systems compared with traditional craft forms.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Clarke & Christine Wall, 2000. "Craft versus industry: the division of labour in European housing construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 689-698, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:18:y:2000:i:6:p:689-698
    DOI: 10.1080/014461900414745
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/014461900414745
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/014461900414745?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marsden, David, 1999. "A Theory of Employment Systems: Micro-Foundations of Societal Diversity," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198294221.
    2. Steedman, Hilary, 1992. "Mathematics in vocational youth training for the building trades in Britain, France and Germany," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 9, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    3. Ansgar Richter, 1998. "Qualifications in the German construction industry: stocks, flows and comparisons with the British construction sector," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 581-592.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Phillip Toner, 2008. "Survival and Decline of the Apprenticeship System in the Australian and UK Construction Industries," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(3), pages 431-438, September.
    2. Andrew R. J. Dainty & Stephen G. Ison & David S. Root, 2005. "Averting the Construction Skills Crisis: A Regional Approach," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 20(1), pages 79-89, February.
    3. Killip, Gavin & Owen, Alice, 2020. "The construction industry as agents of energy demand configuration in the existing housing stock," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    4. Phil Toner, 2006. "Restructuring the Australian Construction Industry and Workforce: Implications for a Sustainable Labour Supply," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 17(1), pages 171-202, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Philippe Askenazy & Clément Brébion & Pierre Courtioux & Christine Erhel & Malo Mofakhami, 2023. "HRM Strategies in Response to the First Covid Lockdown: a Typology of French Workplaces," CEPN Working Papers hal-03953817, HAL.
    2. Editors : & David Marsden & Hugh Stephenson, 2001. "Labour Law and Social Insurance in the New Economy: A Debate on the Supiot Report," CEP Discussion Papers dp0500, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Michael Storper & Lena Levinas & Alejandro Mercado-Celis, 2007. "Society, Community, and Development: A Tale of Two Regions," Post-Print hal-01053957, HAL.
    4. Ian Kessler & Paul Heron & Sue Dopson, 2013. "Indeterminacy and the Regulation of Task Allocation: The Shape of Support Roles in Healthcare," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(2), pages 310-332, June.
    5. Landini, Fabio & Rinaldi, Riccardo, 2024. ""Bad Jobs" in "Good Industries": The Precarious Employment of Migrant Workers in the Manufacturing Sector of the Emilia-Romagna Region," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1409, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Johannes Meuer & Marlies Kluike & Uschi Backes-Gellner & Kerstin Pull, 2018. "Using expatriates for adapting subsidiaries' employment modes to different market economies: a comparative analysis of US subsidiaries in Germany, the UK and Switzerland," Working Papers 372, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    7. Ida Regalia, 2001. "Local-level concertation: the scope for innovative regulation of non-standard forms of employment in Europe," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 7(4), pages 657-673, November.
    8. David Marsden, 2004. "The ‘Network Economy’ and Models of the Employment Contract," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(4), pages 659-684, December.
    9. Marsden, David, 2004. "The 'network economy' and models of the employment contract: psychological, economic and legal," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 4676, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Luc Behaghel & Julie Moschion, 2011. "Skilled labor supply, IT-based technical change and job instability," Working Papers halshs-00646595, HAL.
    11. Guy Vernon & Mark Rogers, 2013. "Where Do Unions Add Value? Predominant Organizing Principle, Union Strength and Manufacturing Productivity Growth in the OECD," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 1-27, March.
    12. Marsden, David & Cañibano, Almudena, 2009. "Participation in organisations: economic approaches," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 25167, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Gatti, Donatella, 2000. "Competence, knowledge, and the labour market: the role of complementarities," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economic Change and Employment FS I 00-302, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    14. Christelle Garrouste & Massimo Loi, 2011. "School-to-work transitions in Europe: Speed of convergence to permanent employment," Post-Print hal-03245393, HAL.
    15. Wood, Geoffrey & Dibben, Pauline & Stride, Chris & Webster, Edward, 2011. "HRM in Mozambique: Homogenization, path dependence or segmented business system?," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 31-41, January.
    16. Jacques Bélanger, 2002. "From Human Capital to Organizational Learning," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 28(1), pages 143-148, March.
    17. van der Velden, Rolf & Bijlsma, Ineke, 2017. "Skill effort: A new theoretical perspective on the relation between skills, skill use, mismatches, and wages," ROA Research Memorandum 005, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    18. Goyer, Michel, 2002. "The transformation of corporate governance in France and Germany: The role of workplace institutions," MPIfG Working Paper 02/10, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    19. Krzywdzinski, Martin & Jürgens, Ulrich, 2019. "Transfer deutscher und japanischer Ansätze der Facharbeiterausbildung an die BRIC-Standorte: Volkswagen und Toyota im Vergleich," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 281-319.
    20. David Marsden, 2015. "The future of the German industrial relations model [Die Zukunft des deutschen Modells der Arbeitsbeziehungen]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 48(2), pages 169-187, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:conmgt:v:18:y:2000:i:6:p:689-698. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RCME20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.