Abstract
The thesis has two main aims; firstly, to examine generally labour costs in entering establishments situated in Greater London; secondly, to identify the main determinants of labour costs. The first three chapters of the thesis are of an introductory nature and are intended to provide the necessary factual and theoretical background for a more detailed study of labour costs in further chapters. Chapter I sets out the main objectives of the study, reviews the existing relevant published work, defines the type of establishment dealt with and the geographical area covered and postulates the main determinants of labour-cost behaviour. Chapter II deals with the location and number of catering establishments in Greater London and provides an analysis of such establishments by type and size. Chapter III is devoted to the labour force employed by catering establishments in the Greater London area. Chapters IV, V and VI constitute a general examination of labour costs in catering establishments. The purpose of Chapter IV is to examine the nature of labour costs in the context of catering operations. It considers the factors making for the fixity of labour costs and deals with the main consequences and implication of labour-cost fixity. Chapter V examines the structure of departmental labour costs in the five groups of establishments involved for the purpose of this study, and deals with the infrastructure of such costs vis-a-vis the size of the establishment. Chapter VI deals with the basic weekly rates of pay of twelve typical grades of staff and the main pay differentials. Finally, Chapters VII and VIII are devoted to the identification of the main determinants of labour costs. Chapter VII deals with short-run and Chapter VIII with long-run determinants of labour costs.