The job content of the U.S. economy, 1940-1970 /

Bibliography: p. 131-136.

Scoville's view is that a relevant approach to the analysis of jobs in the modern economy-one which will help relate changes in technology and market forces to those in employment patterns-should conceive of the job in terms of the technical aspect of the work performed, and the level at which it is done. He presents a matrix model of the economy in which fifteen major "job families," defined by the material, equipment, or technical functions about which the jobs comprising it are centered (the analogues, at the macroeconomic level, of the "job clusters" earlier discussed by Dunlop and Livernash) are broken down into five content levels, defined generally by the market prices
paid for the skills, abilities, education, and training required. Scoville applies this model to the United States economy and subjects it to empirical analysis using census data for the years 1940 to 1960 and, using data previously developed by the National Planning Association, develops projections for 1970.
Because of the limitations imposed by the present form of census data, and the restrictive assumptions often made in connection with the 1970 projections, the book's significance would seem to be rather more in its conceptual scheme than in its empirical results. Nevertheless, the book does contain some interesting, if not always surprising, findings with respect to employment by region, industry, age, and sex.

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