Examines both the demand and supply side of the social organization of industrial outwork in contemporary Hong Kong. This study is a sociological analysis of the interplay between employers' quest for production flexibility and married women's participation in outworking.

This text examines both the demand and supply side of the social organization of industrial outwork in contemporary Hong Kong. Small manufacturers are struggling for survival in a changing global economic environment and outworking offers them flexibility for continuing labour-intensive production in the face of fierce competition. Outworking is also an important household work strategy for married working-class women. Through a sociological analysis of the interplay between employers' quest for production flexibility and married women's participation in outworking, this study illuminates the experience of East Asian development.

Segmented labour market and the organization of work
the incidence of outwork
employers' use of outwork
organizing outwork
participation in outwork
managing two worlds.