The authors use case study evidence from hospitals and auto parts manufacturers to investigate why employers used - and even increased their use of - temporary help agencies during a period of tight labor markets in the 1990s. In high-skill occupations, the evidence suggests employers paid...

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...