Beschreibung:
<p>Occupations differ in recruting and retaining labor forces from different cohorts of workers. The measures cohort representation is constructed here to summarize outcomes of the different processes. The paper proposes an occupational competition model consisting of work qualifications, opportunities, rewards, and shelters to account for cohort representation in occupations. United States census data are used to follow four male and four female cohorts in 63 occupations over 20-year periods from 1920-40 through 1950-70. The model predicts recruitment from young cohort better that retention or recruitment from aging cohorts. High work qualifications and wide opportunities favored recruitment. This pattern developed progressively from each cohort to the next for men but appeared only in 1950-70 for women. Contrary to expectations, shelters and high rewards generally did not favor detention. Occupational characteristics rooted directly in the division of labor (qualifications and opportunities) structured the male and female labor markets in similar ways. Characteristics arising from the organization of labor markets within an existing division of labor (shelters and rewards) did not. Male labor markets were relatively structured; female labor markets were amorphous.</p>