HIRING, PROMOTION, AND PAY IN A CORPORATE HEAD OFFICE - AN INTERNAL LABOR-MARKET IN ACTION

In this paper we argue: i) that internal labour markets should not be treated as a single category but, rather, as part of a continuum of institutional arrangements; ii) that the various theories explaining the existence of internal labour markets imply differences in their detailed operations -in the degree of closure to external competition and the extent of managerial discretion in promotion decisions; iii) that, in the present state of knowledge, there are advantages to detailed studies of promotion systems in non-union firms; iv) that there are further advantages to the study of white-collar employees. We illustrate this with the results of an analysis of the pattern of promotion of a sample of white-collar workers employed in a Toronto head office.