Malcolm S. Cohen, President, Employment Research Corporation, Ann Arbor, Michigan and a former Director, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Michigan, US and Mahmood A. Zaidi, Professor of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, and Director, International Program Development, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, US

'Just before sitting down to write these few words, I happened upon this lead-in to a USA Today article (May 14, 2002), 'Nurse anaesthetists in short supply - Hospitals crank up salaries to attract pivotal employees.' And, as many are aware, this particular shortage has been the case for a period of time measured in decades. Why is it that, for some job classes, supply persists in falling short of demand at the going wage for long periods of time, whether or not the aggregate labor market is tight or slack? What characteristics of labor markets explain this phenomenon? What are the observable indicators that identify a particular job class as being seriously in shortage or as heading into such a condition? Do the same indicators manage to identify most shortage categories? Is the shortage phenomenon local, national, or global? How do economic agents, both on the supply and the demand side, cope with such shortages? These are some of the major issues dealt with by Cohen and Zaidi in their concise and highly readable Global Skill Shortages. Economists, business managers, HR professionals, career counsellors, and educators will all enjoy and get the message in this well-written book. Economists in particular, however, will appreciate the way the authors push the analytics of the problem into suggesting the route to empirical indicators.'

• Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Aspects of Skill Shortages 3. Globalization and Skill Shortages 4. Skill Shortage Studies in Selected Countries 5. Shortage Indicators by Occupation and Country 6. Factors Correlated with Shortages 7. Coping with Skill Shortages 8. Concluding Remarks Appendix Index

Malcolm S. Cohen, President, Employment Research Corporation, Ann Arbor, Michigan and a former Director, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Michigan, US and Mahmood A. Zaidi, Professor of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, and Director, International Program Development, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, US

'Just before sitting down to write these few words, I happened upon this lead-in to a USA Today article (May 14, 2002), 'Nurse anaesthetists in short supply - Hospitals crank up salaries to attract pivotal employees.' And, as many are aware, this particular shortage has been the case for a period of time measured in decades. Why is it that, for some job classes, supply persists in falling short of demand at the going wage for long periods of time, whether or not the aggregate labor market is tight or slack? What characteristics of labor markets explain this phenomenon? What are the observable indicators that identify a particular job class as being seriously in shortage or as heading into such a condition? Do the same indicators manage to identify most shortage categories? Is the shortage phenomenon local, national, or global? How do economic agents, both on the supply and the demand side, cope with such shortages? These are some of the major issues dealt with by Cohen and Zaidi in their concise and highly readable Global Skill Shortages. Economists, business managers, HR professionals, career counsellors, and educators will all enjoy and get the message in this well-written book. Economists in particular, however, will appreciate the way the authors push the analytics of the problem into suggesting the route to empirical indicators.'

• Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Aspects of Skill Shortages 3. Globalization and Skill Shortages 4. Skill Shortage Studies in Selected Countries 5. Shortage Indicators by Occupation and Country 6. Factors Correlated with Shortages 7. Coping with Skill Shortages 8. Concluding Remarks Appendix Index

Malcolm S. Cohen, President, Employment Research Corporation, Ann Arbor, Michigan and a former Director, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Michigan, US and Mahmood A. Zaidi, Professor of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, and Director, International Program Development, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, US

'Just before sitting down to write these few words, I happened upon this lead-in to a USA Today article (May 14, 2002), 'Nurse anaesthetists in short supply - Hospitals crank up salaries to attract pivotal employees.' And, as many are aware, this particular shortage has been the case for a period of time measured in decades. Why is it that, for some job classes, supply persists in falling short of demand at the going wage for long periods of time, whether or not the aggregate labor market is tight or slack? What characteristics of labor markets explain this phenomenon? What are the observable indicators that identify a particular job class as being seriously in shortage or as heading into such a condition? Do the same indicators manage to identify most shortage categories? Is the shortage phenomenon local, national, or global? How do economic agents, both on the supply and the demand side, cope with such shortages? These are some of the major issues dealt with by Cohen and Zaidi in their concise and highly readable Global Skill Shortages. Economists, business managers, HR professionals, career counsellors, and educators will all enjoy and get the message in this well-written book. Economists in particular, however, will appreciate the way the authors push the analytics of the problem into suggesting the route to empirical indicators.'

• Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical Aspects of Skill Shortages 3. Globalization and Skill Shortages 4. Skill Shortage Studies in Selected Countries 5. Shortage Indicators by Occupation and Country 6. Factors Correlated with Shortages 7. Coping with Skill Shortages 8. Concluding Remarks Appendix Index