The study analyzes the development and implementation of hometown plans in the construction industry, focusing on the efficacy of hometown negotiations in establishing new rules and institutional arrangements regarding minority hiring and training in area-wide construction systems. The procedures include analysis of published data and data collection through field interviews. The principle research findings are reported under four categories: the incidence of hometown plans; the conduct and process of hometown negotiations; the substance of hometown agreements; and the implementation of hometown solutions. The most important implications suggested by the research relate to policy, practice, and program efforts: (1) the faith of planners is discouraged by what they see as inconsistent Federal policy, sporadic enforcement, and lack of local support; (2) the promise of increased minority employment (on a continuing basis) is unrealistic without adequate training programs, followup, and Federal surveillance (with sanctions); and (3) efforts are hampered by a lack of helpful labor-market data at a local level and by a proliferation of agencies and programs. The report includes a particular model of hometown bargaining which attempts to explain the processes involved. Field interviews were conducted in Kansas City, Rochester, New Orleans, and Oakland. (Author/AJ)