Labor Relations Commons^™

How Demanding Should Equality Of Opportunity Be, And How Much Have We Achieved?, Valentino Dardanoni, Gary S. Fields, John E. Roemer, Maria Laura Sánchez Puerta

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] This chapter proposes tests of various notions of equality of opportunity and applies them to intergenerational income data for the United States and Britain. Agreement is widespread that equality of opportunity holds in a society if the chances that individuals have to succeed depend only on their own efforts and not on extraneous circumstances that may inhibit or expand those chances. What is contentious, however, is what constitutes "effort" and "circumstances." Most people, we think, would say that the social connections of an individual's parents would be included among circumstances: equality of opportunity is incomplete if some individuals get …

A Public Lecture: Labour Markets And Economic Development, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] I want to put forward three propositions to you based on decades of work in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. First, economic development can be (but need not be) a win-win-win situation - for businesses, for individuals and groups of individuals, and for governments and non- governmental organisations (NGOs). Second, the labour market can (but need not) serve as an effective mechanism for contributing to economic growth and for transmitting the gains from economic growth. And third, in both of these areas, whether a country experiences the more favorable set of outcomes or the less favorable ones reflects a) …

The Impact Of An Urban Wal-Mart Store On Area Businesses: An Evaluation Of One Chicago Neighborhood's Experience, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Julie Davis, David Merriman, Lucia Samayoa, Brian Flanagan, Ron Baiman, Joseph Persky

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

Having achieved nearly complete coverage of non-urban and suburban markets, mega-retailer Wal-Mart has turned its attention to urban expansion. Evaluations of Wal-Mart’s impact on urban retail businesses and local employment are necessary to inform policy makers, scholars, and community activists looking to improve economic opportunities for inner-city residents. This study focuses on the Wal-Mart store that opened on the West Side of Chicago in September 2006.

Re-Visioning The Future Of Work: Towards A New Mindset, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.

Dualism In The Labor Market: A Perspective On The Lewis Model After Half A Century, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

This paper asks how the Lewis model might be viewed from the perspective of economic science half a century later. Many of the core propositions remain intact, some might be amplified, and a small number might be revised.

Household Income Dynamics: A Four Country Story, Gary S. Fields, Paul L. Cichello, Samuel Freije, Marta Menéndez, David Newhouse

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] In this paper, we analyse the dynamics of household per capita incomes using longitudinal data from Indonesia, South Africa, Spain and Venezuela. We find that in all four countries reported initial income and job changes of the head are consistently the most important variables in accounting for income changes, overall and for initially poor households. We also find that changes in income are more important than changes in household size and that changes in labour earnings are more important than changes in other sources of household income.

The Microeconomics Of Changing Income Distribution In Malaysia, Gary S. Fields, Sergei Soares

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] This study uses data from Malaysia's Household Income and Expenditure Surveys to quantify the importance of different factors in accounting for the changes in Malaysia's income distribution between 1984 and 1989 ("Period 1") and between 1989 and 1997 ("Period 2"). These particular years were chosen, because 1997 is the most recent available survey, 1984 is the earliest survey comparable to 1997, and 1989 is important for three reasons: 1. Income inequality fell until 1989 and rose thereafter. 2. Economic growth was slow in 1984-89 and fast in 1989-97. and 3. 1989 is the closest year to the beginning of …

Decent Work And Development Policies, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

Welcoming the shift to outcomes which he perceives in the ILO's focus on decent work, the author explores the major issues thus raised. He discusses how to make the notion of decent work more precise in operational terms, and how to develop an integrated approach to economic and social policy in the decent work context, before formulating an empirical approach to assessing the effects of economic growth on decent work. Finally, he outlines a structure for the ILO's planned country reviews of progress towards decent work.

Employment In Construction And Distribution Industries: The Impact Of The New Jobs Tax Credit, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

Excerpt] The New Jobs Tax Credit (NJTC) offers a tax credit of fifty percent of the first $4200 of wages per employee for increases in employment of more than two percent over the previous year. Economic theory predicts that such a tax credit should stimulate employment, decrease hours worked per week, and reduce product prices of the subsidized industries. A time series analysis of the construction, retailing, and wholesaling industries finds strong support for these hypotheses. Our results suggest that the NJTC was responsible for 150,000-670,000 of the more than 1-million increase in employment that occurred between mid-1977 and mid-1978 …

Capital Mobility And Job Loss: Corporate Restructuring, Production Shifts, And Outsourcing, Stephanie Luce, Kate Bronfenbrenner

Kate Bronfenbrenner

[Excerpt] This chapter examines the impact of corporate restructuring and global outsourcing on employment in the Commonwealth and the shifts in production from workplaces in Massachusetts to other countries. In particular we focus on global outsourcing, the shifting of work from Massachusetts offshore to countries in Europe and Asia, and nearshore to Canada and countries in Latin America. Given the huge media attention that outsourcing and nearshoring have garnered, and the increasing trend they represent toward corporate restructuring and capital mobility with lasting repercussions for workers, families, unions, and communities in the Commonwealth, it is important to assess their relative …

Library Impact Statement For Lrs/Mba 573 Staffing Organizations

Library Impact Statements

Library Impact Statement submitted in response to new course proposal for LRS/MBA 573 Staffing Organizations. New course was supported with no need for additional resources. Responding library faculty member: Andrée J. Rathemacher. Requesting faculty member: Professor Anthony R. Wheeler.

What Is Labor’S True Purpose? The Implications Of Seiu’S Unite To Win Proposals For Organizing, Kate Bronfenbrenner

Kate Bronfenbrenner

[Excerpt] That labor is in a crisis cannot be questioned. While there may be some labor leaders who are content to keep ministering to an ever less powerful, shrinking base, there were few in the room that day that would disagree with the words expressed by SEIU International Executive Vice President Gerry Hudson on the opening panel, that the U.S. "labor movement is becoming dangerously close to being too small to matter." For the first time in decades, both organizing activity and union membership numbers have dropped precipitously. Where in past years unions had to organize 500,000 new workers just …

Significant Victories: An Analysis Of Union First Contracts, Tom Juravich, Kate Bronfenbrenner, Robert Hickey

Kate Bronfenbrenner

[Excerpt] After two decades of massive employment losses in heavily unionized sectors of the economy and exponential growth of the largely unorganized service sector, the U.S. labor movement is struggling to remain relevant. Despite new organizing initiatives and practices, union organizing today remains a tremendously arduous endeavor, particularly in the private sector, as workers and their unions are routinely confronted with an arsenal of aggressive legal and illegal antiunion employer tactics. This vigorous opposition to unions in the private sector does not stop once an election is won, but continues throughout bargaining for an initial union agreement, all too often …

[Review Of Pay Without Performance: The Unfulfilled Promise Of Executive Compensation], Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

[Excerpt] Every once in a while someone comes out with an important book concerning corporate governance or executive compensation. Like Aldolf A. Berle and Gardiner C. Means's The Modern Corporation and Private Property (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1932) and Graef S. Crystal's In Search of Excess: The Overcompensation of American Executives (New York: W.W. Norton, 1991), Bebchuk and Fried's new book is thought-provoking and interesting. It is a very important book and should be read not just by those interested in executive pay or corporate governance but by anyone interested in how corporations work.

[Review Of Personnel Economics In Imperfect Labour Markets], Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

Excerpt] This book is an attempt to consolidate what we know about Personnel Economics by focusing on Personnel Economics in Imperfect Labor Markets. Even on the first page of the book, the author is clear about this mission. In particular he notes that "The view of personnel economics analyzed in this book is based on two key properties of... labour markets: labour markets are imperfect and jobs are associated to [sic] rents; labour market institutions interact with personnel policies. Notably, wages are partly set outside the firm-worker pair (minimum wages and collective agreements are widespread)" and "job termination policies are …

Requiem For An Industry, Charles A. Scontras

Bureau of Labor Education

In April, the Lewiston City Council voted to demolish the massive Bates Mill No. 5, the last component of the original textile giant, dating from 1850, that is owned by the city. The decision graphically symbolizes the burial of a textile industry. When the textile mills arrived in Maine, public officials viewed them as cathedrals of prosperity and progress, while workers welcomed the opportunity to earn a livelihood. Labor reformers, however, often viewed them as corporate entities that regimented life and work, describing them as "tombs for the living," "living hells," and "prison factories." Over the years, labor made sporadic …

Bridging Cultural Differences, Ken Margolies

Ken Margolies

[Excerpt] How you say it can matter as much as what you say.

The End Of Institutional Repositories And The Beginning Of Social Academic Research Service: An Enhanced Role For Libraries, Stuart M. Basefsky

Stuart Basefsky

As more and more universities establish Institutional Repositories (IR), awareness is developing about the limitations of IRs in enhancing the academic research service. The concept of an IR needs to be expanded to include the integration of the processes that transform intellectual endeavor into a broadening array of academic and research support services which are fundamentally social. These include, but are not limited to – (1) sharing institutionally developed intellectual product (traditional IR) (2) informing others of the availability of this product with defined purpose (3) collecting additional academically relevant materials in digital formats using IRs (4) disseminating timely information …

Ensuring A Decent Global Workplace: Labor Rights Belong In Trade Agreements, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] Linking workers' rights to international trade is an idea whose time has come and stayed, despite the best efforts of free trade ideologues to chase it away. In looming congressional debates about "fast track" negotiating authority, the Bush administration and Congress confront powerful demands from workers, trade unionists and a wider public for rules protecting human rights and labor rights, not just corporate investments, in trade agreements.

Flexible Work Arrangements (Fwas): Possible Public Policy Approaches, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

There is a range of ways in which public policy can help workplace flexibility become a norm in the American workplace. Indeed, the various bills introduced in the 110th Congress to increase access to FWAs, one component of workplace flexibility, represent a wide range of public policy approaches.

This document categorizes and characterizes these public policy approaches to help clarify the options that might be pursued to increase access to FWAs.

A Summary Of Data From Families And Work Institute’S National Study Of Employers (2008), Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

This memo presents data from the Families and Work Institute’s 2008 National Study of Employers describing the similarities in access to flexible work arrangements (“FWAs”) for employees of small and large employers. The 2008 National Study of Employers (“2008 Study”) provides a comparison of the availability of 12 types of FWAs to employees of small (50-99 employees) and large (over 1,000 employees) employers.

Holding The Line: Labor’S Safety & Health Movement, Lance A. Compa

Lance A Compa

[Excerpt] Is OSHA finally enforcing the law after years of laxity? Or, as most activists and analysts involved in safety and health believe, do the high-profile penalties constitute an attempt by OSHA to shore up its reputation? A recent independent federal study, the conclusions of which were confirmed by the agency's own consultants, found OSHA in a state of "total paralysis." Another, private, study by the National Safe Workplace Institute showed that OSHA's inspections are inadequate and untimely, that the agency consistently fails to insure that what hazards it does uncover are corrected, and that it often and unjustifiably reduces …

Case Studies: Employment Data Systems: Florida's Agency For Persons With Disabilities, Allison Cohen Hall, Jean Winsor, John Butterworth

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The increasing emphasis on government accountability at the state and federal levels has increased interest in and use of outcome data. Moreover, research has found that high performing states in integrated employment generally have a clear and visible data collection system that provides individual outcome data (Hall et al, 2007). But what are the most important elements in designing and using a system? Stakeholders have raised questions regarding creating effective data collection systems, identifying variables with the most utility for influencing policy, and using data as a strategic planning tool. This series is intended to shed light on the successes …

The Relationship Between Benefit Satisfaction And Intent To Leave: A Study Of Finance Departments In Las Vegas, Jung-In Bae

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between benefit satisfaction and intent to leave among employees who work in finance departments in Las Vegas hotels.

Employee benefits have generally been assumed to be an effective way to attract and retain employees; in fact, 70% of 45 U.S. companies include the benefit packages in their retention strategies. That idea that competitive benefits packages can help firms to win the retention war is widely accepted.

The results of the study indicate that benefit satisfaction was significantly related to intent to leave; those who were satisfied with benefits were less likely to …

The Legislative History Of Fefcwa And Feptcea, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Charts and Summaries of State, U.S., and Foreign Laws and Regulations

No abstract provided.

Telework In The Federal Government: The Overview Memo, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) alter the time and/or place that employees work on a regular basis in a manner that is manageable and predictable for both employees and employers.1 Telework, also called telecommuting, refers to an FWA that enables an employee to work from an alternative place to the employer’s usual worksite, typically home or a satellite work center. Telework technically refers to work performed with the use of a telecommunications connection to the workplace (e.g., computer, telephone), but the term is also

An Overview Of Early Laws Increasing Access To Flexible Scheduling And Reduced Hours In The Federal Workforce, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

The Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Act (FEFCWA) authorizes, but does not require, agencies to offer alternative work schedules to employees. FEFCWA permits employees to designate non-traditional arrival and departure times, centered around core agency hours, and to experiment with four-day workweeks or other compressed schedules. Under the law, implementation and employee utilization of alternative work schedules depends on management support and leadership.

Statements Illustrating The Legislative Intent Of These Laws, Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Center

Memos and Fact Sheets

Based on statements in the legislative history, these laws were meant to provide:

1. Overarching Benefits in the Current Economy
2. Benefits to Families
3. Benefits to Management
4. Equality for Women
5. Protection of the Environment

Stretching The Law Ii: The Misclassification Of Employees As Independent Contractors, Bureau Of Labor Education. University Of Maine

Bureau of Labor Education

The misclassification of many employees as “independent contractors” (ICs) is problematic in a number of industries and employment situations. An earlier paper by the Bureau of Labor Education (BLE) found widespread violations of IC classification in the state’s construction industry. This paper provides a broader context for this issue with a discussion of the legal climate nationally.

Job Loss: Causes, Consequences, And Policy Responses, Kristin F. Butcher, Kevin F. Hallock

Kevin F Hallock

From 2001 to 2003, 5.3 million workers were displaced. Beyond quantifying the numbers of jobs lost lie important questions about gains and losses from these changes and what policies may affect them. These questions will be addressed at an upcoming Chicago Fed conference.