Acknowledgments; Contents; 1 Introduction; Abstract; 1.1 Aim; 1.2 Research Methods; References; 2 Employment Agency and Temporary Work Agency; Abstract; 2.1 Temporary Work Agencies: Traits and the Scope of the Analysis; 2.2 The Employment Agencies Industry: An Overview of the Literature; 2.2.1 The Mainstream Approach; 2.2.2 Critique to the Mainstream Approach; References; 3 Temporary Work Agencies in Italy; Abstract; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Rise and Evolution of the Italian Temporary Work Agency Field; 3.2.1 Incubation phase (1986-1996); 3.2.2 Emergence Phase (1997-2002)

3.2.3 Development Phase (2003-2007)3.2.4 Crisis and Current Phase (2008-2015); 3.3 The Regulatory Framework; 3.3.1 Agency Work in Italy; 3.3.2 The Impact of the Legislation on the Institutional and Organizational Structure of TWAs; 3.4 The Alternative Forms of Employment; References; 4 The Actors in the Italian Temporary Work Agencies' Field; Abstract; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 User Firms; 4.2.1 Replacing Absent Workers; 4.2.2 Increasing the Organization's Flexibility; 4.2.3 Improving Staff Recruitment; 4.2.4 Acquiring New Expertise Within the Organization; 4.2.5 Reducing Labor Costs; 4.3 Workers

4.3.1 Finding a Stable Job4.3.2 Finding Job Opportunities that Suit a Worker's Need for Flexibility; 4.4 Trade and Professional Associations; 4.5 Trade Unions; 4.6 Bilateral Organizations; 4.7 The State; 4.8 The Main Competitors of TWAs; 4.8.1 Intermediaries; 4.8.2 Recruitment Agencies; 4.8.3 Agencies Providing Outplacement Services; 4.8.4 Online Intermediary Organizations; References; 5 The Structure and Performance of Temporary Work Agencies; Abstract; 5.1 The Evolution of the Sector in Italy; 5.2 The Structural Features; 5.2.1 Legal Form; 5.2.2 The Registered Office; 5.2.3 Turnover

5.2.4 The Staff5.2.5 Branch Offices; 5.2.6 The Level of Concentration; 5.3 Collective Performance; 5.3.1 Agency Work as a Percentage of Total Employment; 5.3.2 The Market Share of Agency Work; 5.3.3 The Number of Agency Workers; 5.3.4 The Performances in the Italian Regions; 5.3.5 The Performances in the Different Industries; 5.4 Performance Indicators; 5.4.1 Mean Turnover Per Employee; 5.4.2 Mean Turnover Per Branch; 5.4.3 The Mean Number of Employees Per Branch; References; 6 The Economic and Financial Performance of the Sector; Abstract; 6.1 Introduction and Methodology

6.2 The Study Population6.3 The Income Statements Structure; 6.4 The Capital Structure; 6.5 The Analysis of the Balance Sheet Using Sector Indices; 6.5.1 The Analysis of the Capital Structure of the Sector; 6.5.2 The Analysis of the Financial State of the Sector; References; 7 The New Institutional Approach to Analyze the Italian Temporary Work Agencies' Field; Abstract; 7.1 Introduction; 7.2 The Institutional Logics to Study the Evolution of the TWAs' Field; 7.3 Logics, Events and Actors; 7.4 Emergence and Evolution of a New Organizational Field: Competing Institutional Logics