Part-time work and industry growth

The impression that employment in the U.S. has become more part-time intensive may be driven by a tendency for faster-growing industries to use more part-time work. I document this association over 1983-1993, and demonstrate that it is robust to alternative measures. Similar relationships are discernable in several countries. However, the association does not emerge clearly in the U.S. until the 1980s. Moreover, both relative growth rates and relative part-time intensities of industries have changed markedly since 1940. Part-time work at fast-growing industries is not more likely to be involuntary, although this may be true for entering workers, nor is there a trend in that direction.