Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Unemployment Insurance Reform: Fixing A Broken System, Stephen A. Wandner, Editor

Upjohn Press

The Unemployment Insurance (UI) system is a lasting piece of the Social Security Act which was enacted in 1935. But like most things that are over 80 years old, it occasionally needs maintenance to keep it operating smoothly while keeping up with the changing demands placed upon it. However, the UI system has been ignored by policymakers for decades and, say the authors, it is broken, out of date, and badly in need of repair.

Stephen A. Wandner pulls together a group of UI researchers, each with decades of experience, who describe the weaknesses in the current system and propose …

Lessons Learned From Public Workforce Program Experiments, Stephen A. Wandner Editor

Upjohn Press

This book chronicles many of the most important experiments and the key lessons derived from the evaluations of both existing large-scale public workforce programs and the development of new interventions—including low-cost experiments based on behavioral science methods.

Surviving Job Loss: Paper Makers In Maine And Minnesota, Kenneth A. Root, Rosemarie J. Park

Upjohn Press

Root and Park examine the plight of long-tenured workers displaced from two paper mills—their paths to reemployment, retirement decisions, and the personal struggles they confront.

Jobs Don’T Grow On Trees, Nicholas Johnson

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2013

Most contemporary macroeconomic models account for unemployment by making the simplifying assumptions that 1) there is an equilibrium level of unemployment and that 2) when the economy is not at that level it will tend towards equilibrium. Implicit in these models is also the assumption that the actual behavior of unemployment does not affect the equilibrium level. This paper joins a growing number of economists pointing out that such assumptions are false: the equilibrium does depend on past behavior, a trait called hysteresis. This paper considers the hysteresis hypothesis by using an iterated version of OLS to construct a series …

Tackling Unemployment: The Legislative Dynamics Of The Employment Act Of 1946, Ruth Ellen Wasem

Upjohn Press

Wasem examines the impacts and implications of the Employment Act of 1946 and discusses how provisions of the Act might be useful for today's policymakers.

Does "Trickle Down" Work?: Economic Development Strategies And Job Chains In Local Labor Markets, Joseph Persky, Daniel Felsenstein, Virginia Carlson

Upjohn Press

Persky, Felsenstein, and Carlson explore a new framework for evaluating state and local economic development efforts. They propose a method, referred to as the “job-chains approach,” that they say clarifies the potential justifications for economic development subsidies as well as the limitations surrounding these efforts. This innovative approach addresses not only the number of job vacancies created as a result of a subsidized business investment or expansion, but also the extent to which gains are achieved by the unemployed and the underemployed, whether skilled or unskilled.

The Economics Of The Great Depression, Mark Wheeler Editor

Upjohn Press

This book contributes to our understanding of the Great Depression's immediate and long-term impacts on the American economy. Editor Mark Wheeler has gathered six scholars from a range of subdisciplines within economics who, together, offer a diverse look at the Depression's effects on the nation's GDP, workers and labor markets, and monetary policy.

Wage Flexibility And Unemployment Dynamics In Regional Labor Markets, Thomas Hyclak, Geraint Johnes

Upjohn Press

Hyclak and Johnes explore the extent to which wage rigidity differs across regional labor markets in the U.S. and how it affects the unemployment response to shifts in regional aggregate demand. They also look at the determinants of differences in wage rigidity across regional labor markets.

Recent Developments In The Theory Of Involuntary Unemployment, Carl Davidson

Upjohn Press

This monograph provides a relatively nontechnical summary of the prominent theories of unemployment that have emerged since 1960: search, disequilibrium, implicit contracts, efficiency wage, and insider/outsider models. Davidson focuses on the overall purpose of each line of research, reviewing selected articles on each of the theories. He then offers clear descriptions that make the topics readily accessible to both students and nonspecialists.

Unemployment, Vacancies And Local Labor Markets, Harry J. Holzer

Upjohn Press

Unemployment rates in the U.S. vary considerably over time and across local areas. Economists have long been concerned with explaining these variations and have attempted to distinguish various components of unemployment to explain these variations in rates. Holzer uses firm-level data on job vacancies, sales growth, and wages within and across a group of 28 local labor markets to examine these issues.

The Conflict Between Equilibrium And Disequilibrium Theories: The Case Of The U.S. Labor Market, Richard E. Quandt, Harvey S. Rosen

Upjohn Press

A fundamental controversy in labor economics is whether unemployment is better viewed as an equilibrium or disequilibrium phenomenon. The authors contend that answers to policy problems related to unemployment will depend on which of the two characterizations of the labor market is accepted. They note the effects of inflation, taxes, and unionization on unemployment and describe those factors' effects on the equilibrium/disequilibrium question by presenting both equilibrium and disequilibrium models of the U.S. labor market.

Worker Dislocation: Case Studies Of Causes And Cures, Robert F. Cook, Editor

Upjohn Press

This book describes various projects to assist dislocated workers under Title III of the JTPA, and offers lessons on what has and hasn't worked.

Determinants Of Female Reentrant Unemployment, Ethel B. Jones

Upjohn Press

Examines the extent that women undergo a spell of unemployment upon reentering the workforce, and the factors that influence such a spell.

Unemployment Experience Of Individuals Over A Decade: Variations By Sex, Race And Age, Herbert S. Parnes

Upjohn Press

Uses NLS data to show that unemployment leads to lost earnings and long-term reductions in earning capacity.

An Economic And Sociological Study Of A Kansas Community, Vernon T. Clover

Fort Hays Studies Series

This is a survey of Ellis county, Kansas. The purpose was to discover what information of importance is available in regard to the economic and human characteristics of this county and of similar areas throughout the United States for the prewar year of 1940.