Rise and Fall of the Contract System in the American Iron and Steel Industry

Armando Siciliano Editore - Collana di Economia, n.27

32 Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2012 Last revised: 26 Dec 2013

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

This paper investigates the historical accounts of the ineffectiveness of the contract system in the US iron and steel industry during the second half of the nineteenth-century. The high rate of technological innovation, along with the extensive bargaining power of the old industrial crafts, made output-related pay so costly as to be unsustainable in the long run. A sliding scale, together with piece-rate pay, did nothing but exacerbate the labour problem.

Keywords: piece-rate pay, subcontracting, technological change, iron and steel industry

JEL Classification: J22, J33, J51, N31

Suggested Citation

Lisciandra, Maurizio, Rise and Fall of the Contract System in the American Iron and Steel Industry (2008). Armando Siciliano Editore - Collana di Economia, n.27, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2152950 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2152950

Maurizio Lisciandra (Contact Author)

LUMSA University

Department of Law, Economics, and Communication
Via Filippo Parlatore 65
Palermo, 90145
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.lumsa.it/en

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
55
Abstract Views
629
Rank
667,636
PlumX Metrics