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This book scrutinises polarisation in Sweden, identifying patterns and variations in labour market transformation and exploring the consequences in terms of jobs, income, prestige, unionization and employment security, as well as the effects on different social groups. Through a series of empirical studies, it sheds light on changes in the occupational structure and the ways in which these changes interact with other societal trends, such as increased temporary employment, rising migration and decreased unionization, whilst also exploring changes in the evaluation of occupations and attitudes towards trade unions. Drawing on distinctly sociological perspectives, it shows how transformations in society and the labour market have affected conditions for individuals and considers whether these changes reinforce existing inequalities occasioned by polarisation or create new ones. Scrutinising Polarisation considers whether and how the Swedish labour market has polarized – and, if so, what this means for individual employees and labour organizations. It will therefore appeal to scholars with interests in the sociology of work and professions, social inequalities and labour market transformations.

Previous research has argued that occupational prestige is a social fact founded in the collective conscience and prestige perceptions morally grounded. Ideas of strong consensus in perceptions rest on comparisons of compressed mean values, and the similarity between what prestige an occupation has and what it ought to have has not previously been empirically explored. Drawing on survey data and a discrepancy index, the present study explores the resemblance between descriptive facts and normative values in perceptions of occupational prestige and consensus and discrepancies in prestige perceptions. The analysis showed discrepancies in descriptive and normative prestige perceptions for welfare and cultural occupations. The differences in perceptions can be explained by sex, beliefs about what factors give prestige to an occupation, and the prestige of one's occupation.

This study analyses the legitimacy of different pay determination principles in Swedish public sector organisations. The aim is to explore what dimensions of worth exist in pay determination and to analyse the extent to which differences in legitimacy can be explained by organisational position, professional identity and organisational context. Theoretically, the article is influenced by "valuation studies" and the "institutional logics" and "orders of worth" approaches in analysing the existence of multiple dimensions of pay determination. Empirically, the study is based on surveys to employees and managers. The main results are that individual performance is the most legitimate dimension of worth, although job requirements and employee behaviour also have a high level of legitimacy. Formal individual competence and market value have a somewhat lower level of legitimacy, while organisational results is the dimension that has least legitimacy. In addition, the perceptions of legitimacy are shown to vary somewhat with position, profession and organisational context.

This study contributes to the evidence on motivational effects from performance-related pay (PRP) in the public sector. The theoretical point of departure is that the practical organization and administration locally affect the motivational effects of PRP. The analysis is based on surveys administered to employees (including managers) in Swedish public sector organizations at municipal, regional, and state levels. One of the main conclusions is that PRP is not motivating or demotivating per se, but can be both motivating and demotivating within in the same organization. The (de/)motivational effect depends on the local level organization and practices of PRP, particularly the quality of the performance appraisal dialogue. While confirming the importance of justice perceptions, it also shows the effects of managers' and employees' preparations, knowledge of criteria, the quality of the performance appraisal dialogue, and the manager's evaluation style, while controlling for justice perceptions and background variables.