DUALISM, FLEXIBILITY AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK CONSTRUCTION-INDUSTRY

The rise in the number of self-employed workers in the UK has been par alleled by increasing concern that the use of such 'peripheral' labour may result in the operation of a dual-labour market acting to reinfor ce segregation between 'good' core employment, characterised by higher pay, fringe benefits and job security, and 'bad' peripheral employmen t with adverse characteristics. In contrast, using evidence gained fro m a survey of workers in the UK construction industry, this paper show s that, for any occupation/level of skill, there are discrete advantag es and disadvantages in both direct and self-employment. It is, theref ore, argued that worker preference for a particular mode of employment is the key criterion which determines the case for either relative ad vantage or disadvantage. In particular, the evidence shows that the la rge majorities of both direct and self-employed workers who prefer the ir existing mode of employment undermines dualist conclusions of relat ive disadvantage arising from self-employment per se.