Escape from the Market: Negotiating Work in Lancashire

This book questions the conventional wisdom that in the heyday of laisez-faire capitalism wages were set by thorough going competition. Drawing on the experience of a key group of workers during industrialization, this book shows that even in the absence of trade unions, minimum wage legislation or unemployment insurance, wages do not always move with changes in the demand for and supply of labor. Workers and firms have good reasons to fix wages independently of market fluctuations.