Labour problems and process; Survey

"Labor problems" is the traditional designation for that field of study often called "labor economics," "manpower economics," "the economics of industrial relations," or sometimes just "labor." It refers to that segment of the economy involving most human resources, their use, their incomes, their institutions, and the problems asso ciated with their employment. More narrowly it is concerned with workers or employees other than managerial representatives. It thus focuses intensively on analysis of labor as a factor of production, distinct from natural resources, capital, and entrepreneurship. At the same time, it must show awareness of the conditioning frame work of a total economy and relations to the sociopolitical-economic aspects of society as a whole.

Labor problems used to emphasize hours of labor, industrial safety and other conditions of work, problems of child and female labor, attempts at organization, and, of course, wage and employment problems. Historical developments have brought to the fore new concepts such as social security, collective bargaining, and arbitra tion, as well as reformulations of older problems of the terms and conditions of employment. There have been tremendous growth and structural developments in labor organizations. Conceptualizations have been modified with respect to labor force and labor market be havior, with attempts to apply many economic models to wage-em ployment problems in the aggregate and in the particular. Public policies and laws have multiplied as they relate to these subjects. Many specialized fields within or bearing on labor economics and industrial relations have emerged.