This is a study of young workers in changing labor markets, conducting quantitative analysis of existing data to develop a new research instrument for qualitative interviews. The objective of the broader research is to examine the recent period of widespread economic change to improve scientific understanding of how labor markets -- as systems of reciprocal relations between human capital and occupational structure -- allocate people to positions and create positions for people. The analysis also relies on a cross-national comparison between the United States and Germany, building on a renewed interest in comparative work as a means to introduce variation at the level of institutional structures. The quantitative analysis will draw on two major longitudinal data sets: High School and Beyond and the German Socio-Economic Panel. The immediate work combines quantitative and qualitative methods in a unique manner, following an innovative approach to directly integrate the quantitative findings in open-ended qualitative interviews. Although quantitative data can begin to answer questions of how institutional mechanisms link people and positions, a fuller understanding can come through in-depth interviews with key institutional actors in labor force integration processes, including: administrators and counselors at secondary and postsecondary educational institutions, personnel managers, human resource managers from large firms, managers and owners of small firms, and staff at job search and placement agencies. This work will develop the instruments and methodology required to carry out such research.
