Technology and Employment Practices in Developing Countries

Originally published in 1985, this book analyses the extent and way in which technological change determines the utilisation of labour in less developed economies. The book compares firms which are technologically very advanced with firms which use less sophisticated machinery and equipment, and analyses how technology shapes their demand for labour. It is concerned with the impact of technological change on the utilisation of labour in terms of number of jobs, recruitment, training, skill requirements, labour turnover, wages and internal mobility; it also investigates the impact on the utilisation of external labour in the form of subcontracting of small producers and employment of outworkers.

Hubert Schmitz

Part 1: Technological Change and Labour Utilisation in Manufacturing Industry: A Review of the Literature 1. the Labour Process in the History of Economic Thought 2. Technology Related Patterns of Labour Utilisation in Developing Countries Part 2: Technology and Labour in Brazilian Industry 3. The Approach 4. The Cotton Spinning and Weaving Industry 5. The Chemical Fibre Industry 6. The Clothing Industry 7. The Hammock Industry 8. The Spinning and Weaving Industry Continued Part 3: Towards an Understanding of Industrial Labour Processes in Developing Countries 9. Classifying Technologies 10. Putting Out - Past or Present? 11. Skills and Control 12. Labour Turnover, Wages and Reliability 13. Some Policy Implications 14. The Future with Micro-electronics