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Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations

Welfare Reform: The View From New Hampshire And Massachusetts, Richard W. Hurd, Allen Thompson Oct 2013

Welfare Reform: The View From New Hampshire And Massachusetts, Richard W. Hurd, Allen Thompson

Richard W Hurd

As he promised during his election campaign, President Carter has proposed a major overhaul of the welfare system. Under the Better Jobs and Income Act, unveiled in August 1977, the major components of the current welfare system would be replaced by a program combining cash assistance and job opportunities. This paper evaluates the Carter proposal based on the experience under existing employment, training and welfare programs and then assesses its potential impact on the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In the course of the discussion, we deal with the following questions: (1) Does the proposal effectively address the weaknesses …


Labor Force Migration, Unemployment And Job Turnover, Gary S. Fields Aug 2013

Labor Force Migration, Unemployment And Job Turnover, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] In this paper, we show how labor turnover considerations can be integrated into the human investment theory of migration and demonstrate that such a model provides a much better explanation for migration rates into major metropolitan areas than the conventionally-used unemployment rate. The method used here may be of interest as well to researchers working on other human investment problems that also have a multi-period dimension.


Dead-End Jobs And Youth Unemployment: Comment, Ronald G. Ehrenberg Jul 2013

Dead-End Jobs And Youth Unemployment: Comment, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] Charles Brown has very ambitiously attempted to analyze whether the existence of "dead-end jobs" contributes to the youth unemployment problem. He assumes that the average rate of wage growth of individuals initially employed in an occupation and the proportion of these individuals who remain employed in the same industry for five years are both inversely related to the probability that individuals initially employed in the occupation find themselves in dead end-jobs. His basic methodological approach involves using data from the 1/100 sample of the 1970 Census of Population to calculate both of these variables for each three-digit occupation, merging …


Editor’S Introduction To The Review Symposium On The Book Myth And Measurement: The New Economics Of The Minimum Wage, Ronald G. Ehrenberg Jun 2013

Editor’S Introduction To The Review Symposium On The Book Myth And Measurement: The New Economics Of The Minimum Wage, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] Why has Myth and Measurement engendered so much controversy? In part, because it deals with the minimum wage. The minimum wage was the first piece of protective labor legislation adopted at the national level, and proposals to increase the minimum wage invariably lead to heated debate between labor and business interests. When a book co-authored by the then chief economist in the Clinton Labor Department purports to show that, contrary to received wisdom, minimum wage increases do not appear to have any diverse effects on employment, it is predictable that conservative critics will attack its findings.


Interplant Transfer And Terminated Workers: A Case Study (Reply), David B. Lipsky Mar 2013

Interplant Transfer And Terminated Workers: A Case Study (Reply), David B. Lipsky

David B Lipsky

[Excerpt] The design of policies intended to aid workers who are threatened with displacement involves issues of a complex and difficult nature. The need for careful analysis of the issues is emphasized by Thomas Kochan's comment on my recent article. In that article I tried to point out the limitations of my analysis, the difficulties of generalizing on the basis of a case study, and the tentative nature of my conclusions. Space did not allow a full elaboration of these problems; now Kochan has performed a useful service by heightening our awareness of them. However, I cannot believe he has …


Employment And Unemployment Statistics In Collective Bargaining: Discussion, David B. Lipsky Mar 2013

Employment And Unemployment Statistics In Collective Bargaining: Discussion, David B. Lipsky

David B Lipsky

[Excerpt] This writer can't see the potential in the establishment survey data that Mills sees —at least, not for collective bargaining purposes. First, the sample can never be made large enough, except at prohibitive cost, to include a sufficient cross-section of unionized firms. Granted, union and management representatives have some interest in what is happening in nonunion firms; but this writer would guess their principal interest is in what is happening in comparable unionized relationships. Second, the establishment survey is a good source of information on average hourly earnings and the like, but it is hard to believe it provides …


Interplant Transfer And Terminated Workers: A Case Study, David Lipsky Mar 2013

Interplant Transfer And Terminated Workers: A Case Study, David Lipsky

David B Lipsky

Following its decision to close four plants and transfer their operations to a new location, the General Foods Corporation offered jobs in the new plant to all 1,800 affected employees and payment of their transfer expenses. To those electing not to transfer, the Corporation offered severance pay. Less than a fourth of employees transferred to the new location. This study analyzes in detail the characteristics of the movers and nonmovers and the subsequent employment experience of the latter. It concludes that those workers who most needed the job and income protection offered by the transfer plan were least likely to …