Labour-market theory, quantification, and policy

This paper contains a consideration of the relationships between social theory, quantification, and policy in the context of changing local labour markets. It is argued that different theories have different policy implications which cannot be resolved by quantitative analysis because these various theories embody differing methodological assumptions. There is, however, a common low level of agreement over certain possible changes and tendencies in social systems and these can be probed by quantitative studies.