This text investigates the structural dynamics of labor markets and the economic factors influencing employment, wages, and industrial relations. Paul E. Sultan provides a comprehensive examination of the labor force, utilizing mid-20th-century economic theory to analyze the intersection of supply, demand, and institutional bargaining. The work establishes a framework for understanding how labor unions, management, and government policy interact within the broader capitalist system.

Experts identify this work as a representative example of mid-century institutionalist economic thought. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which serves as a historical record of how labor economics was conceptualized during the post-war era.