Transitional Labor: Undocumented Workers in the Los Angeles Automobile Industry

This article examines the employment of undocumented workers by Los Angeles manufacturers of automobile parts. It suggests that this is part of a broad trend towards primary labor market erosion. The labor force is termed transitional because it is seen as facilitating firms during the current period of industrial change. Insight into the role of these workers is derived from eight case studies representing 926 workers. Regressions on the determinants of wages and the percent undocumented in the workplace are developed from 21 firms and 2,321 workers.