Industrial Development and Changes in Occupational Structures.

The industrial development of rural areas within a technologically and industrially advanced nation consists essentially of a redistribution of economic activity. Resultant changes in occupational structure may be assessed through study of five major areas: market participation, sectoral relocation, work specialization, occupational upgrading, and bureaucratization. Introduction of a large-scale production facility to a rural area was studied (along with a control group) for its impact on the area work force. Its effects were marginal in terms of market participation and work specialization but more pronounced in regard to sectoral relocation and occupational upgrading (especially in white-collar occupations). There is some support for the proposition that rural development increases work bureaucratization. The apparent lack of major impact of industrialization may be due to the brevity of the research period (1966 to 1971), the effects being too localized to measure with available data, or, most likely, the dilution of effects through wide dispersal within the region. (MS)