This dissertation addresses the particularly underresearched areas of temporary agency work, i.e. the internal operation of TWAs, the relative compensation and future earnings of TWA workers, and the stepping-stone function to regular employment of TWA jobs for the unemployed. A number of different data sources are employed to this end, some in fact for the first time, including a new data set created by the author. The following paragraphs provide a brief summary of the individual chapters in this thesis and their respective contributions to the existing literature on temporary agency work.