The Causes of Skill Shortages in Britain.

It is widely felt that skill shortages are a serious problem in the United Kingdom. This paper investigates the causes of skill shortages. The authors' empirical work is based on job matching theory so that shortages correspond to long duration vacancies. They argue that shortages depend on factors internal and external to the firm. The authors find that unemployment and educational attainment are important external variables while cyclical factors and measures of flexibility in work organization are important internal factors. Copyright 1993 by Royal Economic Society.