The central aim of this thesis is to investigate how and why labour markets are formed in specific ways under contemporary global capitalism. This thesis achieves this through a sociological analysis and explanatory account of the contemporary transformation of merchant navy seafaring labour markets for Filipino, South African and British seafarers. The study is centrally concerned with four questions relating to the restructuring of these labour markets. These questions are: 1. How has the labour market for seafarers been reshaped? 2. How has the restructuring of shipping capital facilitated this process process? 3. What has the role of labour been in this restructuring process? 4. What other labour market institutions contribute to this restructuring? Answering these four questions allows me to achieve the central aim of my thesis which is to investigate how and why labour markets are formed in specific ways under contemporary global capitalism. In answering these questions this thesis makes three theoretical interventions in industrial sociology. Firstly, this work offers a substantially different account of labour markets that advances a more fully social explanation of labour market formation that does not consider the social as a 'factor' or an 'add on' as does classical and neo classical economics (and some strands of economic sociology) but a significant shaper of global labour markets. Secondly, it fills a gap in theorising the agency of organised labour under global capitalism. The thesis demonstrated how the agency of organised labour and the importance of locality or place should also be accorded primacy in arguing how labour markets are produced. Thirdly in making my own assertions about the creation and decimation of working classes under capitalism, I draw on three detailed case studies of seafaring trade unions, capitalist and state strategies in the shaping and transformation of contemporary labour markets for seafarers and therefore demonstrate the fallibility of the 'race to the bottom' thesis using contemporary research and data. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2008.

Written as three publishable papers, this dissertation examines the sources of several forms of social capital in Singapore, and the effects of social capital on occupational success. Using representative survey data from Singapore, these papers make several important theoretical contributions: The first paper examines how and why categorical forms of stratification such as gender and ethnicity tend to produce distinctive forms of network inequalities: for example, whereas Chinese (relative to Malays and Indians) tend to have greater access to well-educated, wealthy, Chinese and weak tie social capital (but not non-kin), men (relative to women) tend to have greater access to men, non-kin and weak ties (but not well-educated, wealthy and Chinese). The key to understanding such distinctive patterns of network inequalities (by gender and ethnicity) is to understand the distinctive ways in which gender and ethnic groups are distributed in routine organizations such as schools, paid work and voluntary associations. The second paper examines the significance of personal contacts in job searches, in the context of Singapore’s meritocratic system. I show that in certain sectors such as the state bureaucracy, social networking brings no distinct advantages as appointments are made exclusively on the basis of the credentials of the candidates. Thus, personal contacts are not always useful, especially in labour markets that rely heavily on the signalling role of academic credentials to match people to jobs. In contrast, personal contacts are more useful among less qualified job searches in the private sector. The third paper shows that while job contacts (i.e. ‘mobilized’ social capital) may not always pay off in meritocratic labour markets, ‘accessed’ social capital remains extremely important. The leveraging power of social capital in meritocratic markets is not the active mobilization of job contacts per se, but more subtly, the result of embedded social resources such as knowing many university graduates and wealthy people. Together, these papers illustrate how socio-structural factors such as meritocracy, gender and racialization form important predictors of the distribution, role and value of social capital in everyday life and labour markets.

Written as three publishable papers, this dissertation examines the sources of several forms of social capital in Singapore, and the effects of social capital on occupational success. Using representative survey data from Singapore, these papers make several important theoretical contributions: The first paper examines how and why categorical forms of stratification such as gender and ethnicity tend to produce distinctive forms of network inequalities: for example, whereas Chinese (relative to Malays and Indians) tend to have greater access to well-educated, wealthy, Chinese and weak tie social capital (but not non-kin), men (relative to women) tend to have greater access to men, non-kin and weak ties (but not well-educated, wealthy and Chinese). The key to understanding such distinctive patterns of network inequalities (by gender and ethnicity) is to understand the distinctive ways in which gender and ethnic groups are distributed in routine organizations such as schools, paid work and voluntary associations. The second paper examines the significance of personal contacts in job searches, in the context of Singapore’s meritocratic system. I show that in certain sectors such as the state bureaucracy, social networking brings no distinct advantages as appointments are made exclusively on the basis of the credentials of the candidates. Thus, personal contacts are not always useful, especially in labour markets that rely heavily on the signalling role of academic credentials to match people to jobs. In contrast, personal contacts are more useful among less qualified job searches in the private sector. The third paper shows that while job contacts (i.e. ‘mobilized’ social capital) may not always pay off in meritocratic labour markets, ‘accessed’ social capital remains extremely important. The leveraging power of social capital in meritocratic markets is not the active mobilization of job contacts per se, but more subtly, the result of embedded social resources such as knowing many university graduates and wealthy people. Together, these papers illustrate how socio-structural factors such as meritocracy, gender and racialization form important predictors of the distribution, role and value of social capital in everyday life and labour markets.

This thesis examines the qualitative transformation taking place within the processes of transnationalisation of labour markets that drive a substantive increase in the segmentation and fragmentation of migrant labour. The thesis argues that by either focusing on the agential elements or strictly structural constraints, conventional perspectives on the role of intermediaries in processes of international migration lack a comprehensive transnational theorisation of labour markets. A focus on the transnationalisation of labour markets through the role of cross-border farm labour contractors aims to address these limitations by analysing the complex nature of processes of transnationalisation in the provision of migrant labour in Californian agriculture. A transnational labour market approach is developed to show how three regimes of segmentation-fragmentation operate at the Federal (nation-state) and state (regional) levels and also at a local level through the actions of farm labour contractors in the organisation of movement and workplace practices along formal and informal lines. The core argument of this thesis is that the tensions between fragmentation and segmentation within the process of transnationalisation of labour markets between Mexico and the United States conflate in everyday precarity for migrant workers. Everyday precarity involves not only the conditions under which migrant workers perform their activities in the workplace, but also extends beyond to include aspects of their everyday lives in a transnational fashion. Farm labour contractors play an important role in organising and coordinating flexibility in fragmented agricultural labour markets. Through their position at the heart of the tensions of the interplay between the three regimes, farm labour contractors gain power over the labour process, thereby contributing to further fragmentation. This power is linked to the migration and protection policies established by nation-states at the first regime of segmentation-fragmentation, and is also shaped by the regional (Californian) labour legislation at the second regime of segmentation-fragmentation. The thesis concludes that a transnational theorisation of labour markets, which places intermediaries such as farm labour contractors within the tensions of processes of transnationalisation that account for not only segmentation but also fragmentation, is required to fully understand everyday precarity beyond national boundaries. Therefore, farm labour contractors are key channels of transnationalisation by contributing to further fragmentation at the local level in already highly segmented labour markets.

The dissertation thesis deals with the problem of signaling behaviour at the labour market. It wants to shed more light on the difference between signaling and the traditionally accepted human capital theory, in order to find common points and distinctions. Both are later used in the model-parts of the thesis where I try to model demad for education and labour demand under both approaches. Both models are theorethical-based and explatin different possibilities how both these variables are formed in the labour market.

The professional scene of Esports got its humble start in the 1990’s, when the first tournaments for various games were hosted (McLeod, Xue & Newman, 2022). The number of professional players has increased dramatically until today. How the market for these professional players works as a labour market in today's society is relatively unknown. However, what is known is that this labour market stands out in regard to the small number of female workers it houses (Ratan et al., 2021). This is especially true for the game “League of Legends”, which has a particularly small number of women, even by Esports-standards1. With the purpose of finding the origin of this fact, I have conducted a survey measuring the skill of the players as well as their tendencies towards sexism. The survey results showed that sexism does increase with skill. This measured sexism is on average higher among better players. This could indicate that sexism is acting as a barrier for women to enter the professional scene and that this could be one of the causes of why there is a lack of female players in League of Legends.

This thesis analyzes the political discourse on skilled labour migration in Germany between 2005 and 2009 and investigates how and why skilled labour migration polices are negotiated in the Federal Republic of Germany. In particular the thesis highlights the significance of underlying policy maker motives within the policy formation process of Germany s 2009 Action Programme on Skilled Labour Migration as well as their ultimate imprint on the legislation. The critical discourse analysis of parliamentary debate in Germany between 2005 and 2009 in conjunction with interviews with relevant national policy makers, institutional actors, labour market stakeholder, and independent policy advisors reveals that there is a significant discrepancy between policy maker intent in regards to skilled labour migration legislation and the stated intent of the 2009 Action Programme. While the stated aim of the Action Programme is to facilitate and promote skilled labour migration to Germany, the analysis of relevant political debate and the stakeholder interviews reveals that German policy makers are primarily motivated to protect and promote preferential labour market access for domestic workers while at the same time restricting undesired labour migration to Germany. As a result, the policy measures of the 2009 Action Programme on Skilled Labour Migration have a strong protectionist and restrictionist emphasis. Moreover, the thesis reveals that the complex and multilayered power-negotiations over skilled labour migration legislation between the various policy makers, institutional actors, and labour market stakeholders are largely shaped and framed by domestic political considerations. Notwithstanding the widely acknowledged global competition over skilled workers and the need for German labour market to maintain competitive within the global economy, immigration policy makers in Germany are primarily motivated by factors that are firmly embedded within the national political sphere and that aim to control, limit, and restrict territorial access of foreign workers into the national labour market. This in turn highlights the need for migration scholars to reposition and re-conceptualize the role of the nation-state and as an active agent in shaping international labour migration flows.

Under de senaste åren har det blivit tydligt att de ungas övergång från skola till arbete, “school-to-work transition”, har förändrats. Det innebär att övergången idag är längre och mer komplex jämfört med tidigare. Samtidigt som en del har svårt att träda in på arbetsmarknaden finns det andra som har möjlighet att få anställningstrygghet men som själva väljer en längre övergång bestående av flera olika sysselsättningsstatus och arbeten. I denna studie har vi valt att fokusera på målgruppen som själva valt en längre övergång för att få en inblick i hur de upplever den förändrade övergången mellan skola och arbete. Syftet med studien är att beskriva hur övergången mellan skola och arbete skildras av personer som av eget val haft flera olika sysselsättningsstatus samt undersöka vad de upplever som ett attraktivt arbete. Vi har utifrån en kvalitativ metod intervjuat tio kvinnor 30–35 år för att ta del av deras berättelser. Studien har sökt svar på hur intervjupersonerna upplever sina erfarenheter och värderar sina val, vilka faktorer som har påverkat valen samt vad som är viktigt för att ett arbete ska upplevas som attraktivt. Det har resulterat i en fördjupning av valmöjligheter, upplevelser av övergången och attityder till arbete. Studiens resultat visar att målgruppens övergång till stor del har präglats av olika sysselsättningar, brytpunkter och val som påverkats av både inre och yttre faktorer. Respondenterna upplever att de själva har kunnat påverka sina val även om andra faktorer såsom; personer i omgivningen, utbildning- och arbetsmarknad, ekonomi, sjukdom, intressen och personliga egenskaper samt tidigare arbetslivs- och studieerfarenheter också har haft en påverkan.
 Respondenterna har till stor del haft positiva upplevelser av övergången men även tuffare perioder med osäkerhet och tvivel har präglat deras övergång.
 Trots att respondenterna upplevt intensiva perioder där de hoppat runt mellan flera olika sysselsättningsstatus kan de ändå blicka tillbaka och se en “röd tråd”. Viktiga faktorer för att trivas på en arbetsplats är kollegor, arbetsuppgifter och flexibilitet. Även bra chefer, ett gott ledarskap, god kommunikation och att visa uppskattning är av stor betydelse. Få av respondenterna upplever att de har nått sina yrkesmål trots att majoriteten av respondenterna idag arbetar med det yrke som de utbildat sig till.

<p>What is the total, summarized effect of immigration? Up to this date researchers have found both small positive effects and small negative effects for the same variable (e.g. wages or unemployment). As far as I know no one has yet focused on the total effect. With panel data on a bundle of variables for 22 OECD countries between 1970-2007, using multiple regression analysis I will estimate each variable individually and add together the signs of the effects to one combined sign (+/-/0). I find that the total, summarized effect of immigration tends to be slightly positive for OECD destination countries (under my assumptions).</p>

Under continuous pressure from globalised competition, labour markets no longer guarantee the social inclusion of all citizens into civil society. For a „civilised“ market economy, it is essential to frame further economic „rationalisation“ by a comprehensive labour policy that values meaningful ways of human activity as well as the just organisation of the world of work over efficient labour markets. Without such a comprehensive labour policy, argues, labour markets increasingly become „tyrannical“ and will endanger the foundations of a modern society of free and equal citizens.