Self-employment and Public Emergency Work in Urban Labor Markets during the Great Depression: The Case of Industrial Cities

Authors

Robert Boyd, Mississippi State UniversityFollow

Keywords

Self-employment, public emergency work, industrial cities, Great Depression

Abstract

Self-employment and public emergency work were frequent reactions to the economic dislocations of the Great Depression. Census data for men show that in urban-industrial centers, self-employment reduced the demand for public emergency work by absorbing displaced workers into the entrepreneurial sector. Census data for women reveal that, in these centers, self-employment and public emergency work coexisted due to mutually beneficial relations between women who were self-employed and those women who worked on government projects. The results suggest that, contrary to popular theoretical and ideological views, there is no inherent conflict between private- and public-sector responses to stagnant labor markets.

Recommended Citation

Boyd, Robert (2015) "Self-employment and Public Emergency Work in Urban Labor Markets during the Great Depression: The Case of Industrial Cities," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 42: Iss. 1, Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3890
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol42/iss1/7