Good data on the size and composition of the independent contractor workforce are elusive, with household survey and administrative tax data often disagreeing on levels and trends. We carried out a series of focus groups to learn how self-employed independent contractors speak about their work....

Introduction -- The change in work arrangements in Denmark and Germany -- Regulatory convergence? -- Nonstandard work in Italy and Spain -- Nonstandard work arrangements in France and the United States -- The growth of nonstandard employment in Japan and the United States -- Employment choices...

This paper examines the reasons why employers used and even increased their use of temporary help agencies during the tight labor markets of the 1990s. Based on case study evidence from the hospital and auto supply industries, we evaluate various hypotheses for this phenomenon. In high-skilled...