Material and moral resources: the 1984–5 miners' strike in Scotland

This article contributes to debates about the economic framework of industrial politics by examining aspects of the 1984–5 miners' strike in Britain, focusing on developments in Scotland. It focuses on strike endurance and pit‐level variations in strike endurance by examining the contrasting quantity and quality of the material and moral resources available to the strikers at different collieries and in different communities. Powerful local variables in building or inhibiting strike commitment included pre‐strike pit‐level production, industrial relations, and the impact of debates about the economics and finances of coal‐getting; incomes gained for households during the strike by married women in part‐time and full‐time employment; expenditure saved by households in local authority housing where rents were in effect deferred by sympathetic local authorities; communal attitudes to pits, jobs, and redundancies; the character and weight of political tradition; and the cultural as well as economic role of women. By focusing on developments at community and colliery level the article challenges dominant narratives of the strike, which remain wedded to high politics, the strategy of the union leadership, changes in energy supply and policy, and public order.     

OPTIONS IN THE DESIGN OF COMPETITIVE-BIDDING PROCESSES FOR INDIGENT MEDICAL CARE

This paper discusses competitive-bidding systems for indigent medical care. Theoretical and empirical research which applies to the specific characteristics of these systems is limited. In particular, it is not clear which set of bidding rules would result in the lowest program costs for the state. Effectively implementing competitive bidding is difficult, given the ambiguity of available research results, since such bidding creates the appearance that policymakers have relinquished budgetary control.     

THE CHOICE BETWEEN LEGITIMATE AND ILLEGITIMATE WORK: MICRO STUDY OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

This study postulates that youths remain in the labor force so long as the number of weeks they have employment exceeds the number they consider as minimally acceptable. Such a threshold level of weeks worked can be related to the notion of a reservation wage. Prior employment or experience raises expectations and should increase the threshold. Other factors, such as illegal opportunities to earn income, may also raise the threshold. If the actual fraction of weeks a youth works exceeds this threshold, then we expect that youth to be employed during the following period. We compare data for individuals of both sexes, age 16 or 17 years, from the Youth Cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey regarding the behavior of those who dropped out of school, those in the process of dropping out of school, and those remaining in school. Involvement in crime decreases the likelihood of future employment–most for dropouts and least for those remaining in school.