Piecework Versus Timework in British Wartime Engineering

42 Pages Posted: 18 May 2005

See all articles by Robert A. Hart

Robert A. Hart

University of Stirling - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Date Written: May 2005

Abstract

The British engineering industry experienced extreme production and employment pressures during the rearmament period that preceded the Second World War and in the early war years. Did it react by placing a greater emphasis on incentive-compatible payment methods? This paper examines the relative employment and wage effects on pieceworkers and timeworkers. Empirical work is based on detailed firm-level payroll data produced by the Engineering Employers Federation covering the period 1935 to 1942. The paper investigates the effects of war on piecework and timework in relation to (a) labour market arguments concerning substitution between payment methods, (b) piece rate/time rate adjustments to changes in product demand, (c) relative changes in employment and hours, and (d) relative changes in hourly and weekly pay.

Keywords: piecework, timework, British engineering, World War II

JEL Classification: J31, J33, N34, N44

Suggested Citation

Hart, Robert A., Piecework Versus Timework in British Wartime Engineering (May 2005). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=725444 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.725444

Robert A. Hart (Contact Author)

University of Stirling - Department of Economics ( email )

Stirling, Scotland FK9 4LA
United Kingdom
+44 1786 467 471 (Phone)
+44 1786 467 469 (Fax)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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