Labor Economics Commons^™

Atelier Interloper, Isabel Jane Marvel

Masters Theses

Architects frequently specify toxic materials, like fiberglass insulation, for construction projects, materials they would never touch with bare hands, let alone wear as garments. So why incorporate such harmful substances into our buildings? Atelier Interloper, a nimble fabrication studio, intervenes in job sites and manufacturer waste streams, reclaiming industrial materials that are no longer usable at building scale but are suitable for clothing. The premier collection of garments draws inspiration from workwear and is crafted from industrial materials such as Tyvek and 100% recycled denim insulation. In outfitting the body with these materials, this thesis work brings visibility to substances …

What Does One Billion Dollars Look Like?: Visualizing Extreme Wealth, William Mahoney Luckman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The word “billion” is a mathematical abstraction related to “big,” but it is difficult to understand the vast difference in value between one million and one billion; even harder to understand the vast difference in purchasing power between one billion dollars, and the average U.S. yearly income. Perhaps most difficult to conceive of is what that purchasing power and huge mass of capital translates to in terms of power. This project blends design, text, facts, and figures into an interactive narrative website that helps the user better understand their position in relation to extreme wealth: https://whatdoesonebilliondollarslooklike.website/

The site incorporates …

Containerization Of Seafarers In The International Shipping Industry: Contemporary Seamanship, Maritime Social Infrastructures, And Mobility Politics Of Global Logistics, Liang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation discusses the mobility politics of container shipping and argues that technological development, political-economic order, and social infrastructure co-produce one another. Containerization, the use of standardized containers to carry cargo across modes of transportation that is said to have revolutionized and globalized international trade since the late 1950s, has served to expand and extend the power of international coalitions of states and corporations to control the movements of commodities (shipments) and labor (seafarers). The advent and development of containerization was driven by a sociotechnical imaginary and international social contract of seamless shipping and cargo flows. In practice, this liberal, …

Discourses That Undermine Union Movements: A Multimodal Analysis Of Union-Busting Videos, Theresa A. Catalano, Julia Schleck

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Labor unions in the United States have experienced decades of decline, but recent years have seen a rebirth of union campaigns and successes. Because unions are once again becoming a threat to large companies, it is reasonable to assume that efforts to discourage organizing efforts will increase and become even more robust in the near future. Although traditionally, companies have worked to suspend union organizing through captive audience meetings in which unions were discussed via verbal or written modes, more recent means of reaching workers with anti-union messages incorporate a variety of communication strategies to get the message across. As …

香港影視業勞工狀況終期研究報告2024, 嶺南大學政策研究院, 嶺南大學文化研究及發展中心, 嶺南大學「青年貧窮與就業」研究團隊, 潘毅, 梁仕池, 楊皓鋮, 蔡美琦, 鄧立賢

CCRD Research Report

推動影視業發展是港府近年的文創政策重心。影視業較為人注目的是黃金年代後票房積弱和創作自由的議題；而銀幕背後，從業員的處境則容易被忽略。本研究報告兼用定量和定質的調查，深入淺出地分析本地投身電影、電視、廣告、網片等影像製作的從業員的勞動條件，探討不合理待遇的成因，並按研究結果提出政策及行業倡議。

本研究以問卷調查了212為從業員的工作狀況，與44名從業員進行深度訪談，得出以下主要發現：

1）影視業以自由工作者為主，他們的僱傭型態零散，普遍沒有明文及完整合約便要開工，並容易面臨拖糧和其他形式的剝削（詳見第5部分）：

• 影視從業員以自由工作者為主，缺乏保障，面對多種危脆性（見p.26）
• 多數從業員開工前不會簽署正規協議（見p.35）
• 業內實際工作協議的完整度，比從業員理想的完整度有很大落差（見p.38）
• 行業零散度高，導致拖糧問題普遍（見p.47）
• 從業員容易面臨壓價和被資方轉移商業風險（見p.53）

2）影視業的生態和文化令從業員面對不公的操作和「行規」亦難以改變。這些因素包括：行業以人脈為重、行內層級文化較強、從業員願意為創作犧牲待遇、行內較缺乏團結及行動意識（詳見第6部分）：

• 從業員極度依賴人脈接觸工作機會。遇到不合理待遇時，顧慮到自己形象和開罪前輩的可能性，很多人都會忍氣吞聲，避免被行家覺得麻煩、小器，導致不獲重用。這無疑是製造了灰色地帶，讓掌握工作機會的人士和單位可以刻薄對待和剝削勞工，而毋須被問責（見p.58）
• 行內論資排輩的文化仍然存在，底層從業員要對前輩服從，表現出「肯捱」、願意「跟師傅學嘢」、甚至「任砌」等特質，難以反駁不合理要求，勞動尊嚴受損（見p.62）
• 從業員對藝術創作抱有熱誠，在商業製作中亦未必完全以金錢衡量自己的付出，因此容易陷入甘願「自我犧牲」的心態，導致被剝削（見p.64）
• 從業員若遇到不公平待遇，普遍不傾向團結行家一起尋求改變。主流的做法是在個人網絡傳播、私下聯絡對方追討、或放棄追究。多名受訪者歡迎行內發展出爭取權益導向的工會，惟他們認為現時並未有足夠條件推動（見p.65）

3）影視製作市道不佳，令製作預算壓縮，令長工時、職安意識不足問題亦更難有資源應對（詳見第7部分）：

• 拍攝現場有不少職安隱患，頗多從業員曾經歷或目睹工傷發生。從業員工時長、經常在疲勞狀態下工作；拍攝節奏趕急；現場未必有專業人員把關安全，僅靠經驗判斷安危等，都是造成職安隱患的原因（見p.77）
• 從業員連續多日超時工作的情況非常嚴重。受訪從業員認為行內有必要對作息時間有合理的規範，不應犧牲從業員健康（見p.74）
• 從業員認同需要專人負責監察片場安全，但對於如何實行並無共識（見p.81）
• 從業員普遍認為政府對行業的支援資源不足、不到位，應邁向更開放、不以商業效益為主要考量的方向改善（見p.84）

基於研究結果，我們對香港影視行業及政府提出以下倡議（詳見第8部分）：

保障自由工作者基本待遇（見p.87）

• 業界引入標準合約，推廣開工前先簽訂完整協議的文化
• 政府透過資助影像製作項目，推廣勞工友善措施
• 業界規範工時，減低超時、高強度工作的情況

改善工作條件及職業安全（見p.89）

• 業界和政府合作，設定適用於影視製作的職安課程、認證系統、作業指引
• 政府改善職安執法
• 從業員自我組織，維護及推動權益

支援業界發展（見p.92）

• 政府改善資助制度，支援各規模、多元創作
• 增加畢業生支援，輔助院校新晉人才與業界接軌

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Liquid Border, Yingfan Jia

Masters Theses

A River is a mighty and constantly-evolving force, leaving behind an intricately designed and constantly changing system. Not just a river, the Rio Grande stretches all the way from Colorado before intersecting with the US-Mexico Border in southern Texas - a point where the powerful forces of nature now merge with a clearly-defined political boundary. The outcome of this is a unique ecological niche, which may often go unnoticed despite its distinctiveness.

Texas is famous for its farms and ranches, and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas was once an agricultural hub. However, urbanization and the depletion of water …

影視業勞工狀況中期研究報告2023, 嶺南大學政策研究院, 嶺南大學文化研究及發展中心, 嶺南大學「青年貧窮與就業」研究團隊, 鄧立賢, 蔡美琦, 楊皓鋮, 梁仕池, 潘毅

CCRD Research Report

文化及創意產業是近年香港政府重點發展的產業，銳意將香港打造成「中外文化藝術交流中心」。然而文化及創意產業行內的運作模式、勞動條件和文化卻鮮有被研究。近期，業內發生了幾宗轟動的工業意外，備受社會關注。此外，媒體不時報導從業員被「拖糧」、長時間超時工作、行業前景受限等，反映需要深入研究創意產業勞工的工作狀態。在眾多的創意產業行業中，影視業的從業員人數較多，每年亦有大量畢業生投入市場，因此本研究報告集中討論影視行業的狀況。我們在今年四月至八月透過訪談接觸了30位從業員，訪問他們的入行經歷、勞動狀態、待遇等問題。另外在六月至八月，我們利用問卷調查了123名從業員，主要收集他們的接案協議及酬勞、工時及勞動強度、職業安全等數據。

研究發現

外判制度導致影視業工作普遍零散化、延遲支付酬勞（即「拖糧」）情況常見。問卷顯示，有42.3%回覆者表示在現時或上一份工作，開工前僅前有口頭或訊息協議，14.6%回覆者則在開工前沒有任何形式的協議。影視業的外判制度其來有自，經歷九十年代港產製作大幅萎縮，投資商須緊縮成本製作預算，改以承包及自由工作方式聘用勞工，導致從業員缺乏正式僱傭關係和相關勞工保障。零散化的勞動模式亦造成普遍的不合理待遇，包括「拖糧」、欠缺清晰的工作協議、內容修改和工時安排等。

影視業從業員的勞動強度普遍較高，過勞和工傷普遍，但甚少有適當處理。超過六成回覆者表示「頗多」或「經常」連續兩天工作12小時以上；76.4%回覆者表示試過或目睹工傷，不過，只有11.7%回覆者表示有向勞工處呈報工傷。

政策倡議

訂立從業員基本待遇守則。影視業應制訂標準合約以保障從業員的基本權益，包括明確的酬勞支付方式、日期、付款分期，以及具體的休息時間規定。在盡量減低各持份者的行政成本下，標準合約讓自由工作者享有合理保障。行業亦應規範每組拍攝之間的最短休息時間及每週休息日。政府應負起帶頭責任，規定受資助團體或個人必須以不亞於行業標準合約的待遇聘請製作人員。

訂立工業安全指引。業界組織、勞工團體和勞工處應盡快共同制定工業安全指引。勞工處應研究拍攝場地的安全隱患，參考現行法例和工作守則，製作適用的宣傳材料和訓練課程。確立工作守則後，勞工處可研究不同執法的可行性，例如要求呈報拍攝現場、巡查、鼓勵舉報不安全的拍攝環境等。勞工處應審視勞工法例，研究同時保障僱員、日薪從業員、自由工作者的工傷補償。另外，勞工處應積極研究將中暑和過勞納入工傷保障範圍。

政府須完善對影視業的資助。政府應完善電影發展資助階梯，並鼓勵影視製作人擴展到不同平台，開拓市場。同時須增加畢業生支援，並聯同業界和學界，研究影視製作的區域分工及香港影視界的比較優勢，並按此推行相關的教育、人才培訓和資助計劃，使香港影視業能在區域分工中突圍而出。

Volume 5, Issue 2 (2022) Migration, Community, And Environment During A Pandemic

International Journal on Responsibility

No abstract provided.

The Great Resignation Among Restaurant Workers: A Content Analysis Of News Sources’ Portrayals Of The Covid-19 Labor Shortage, Mackenzie M. Williams

The Cardinal Edge

When workers left the labor market in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, proclamations of a labor shortage emerged extensively throughout the news. In this study, I analyze the coverage of the worker shortage among three news sources with different political orientations. Several themes emerged from analyzing a total of 75 articles. The findings showed that the perspective shown in the article, the cause of the labor shortage, restaurant worker portrayal, support of solutions, and opinion of the labor shortage all differed based on the political identity of the news source. This research supports previous findings that show there is …

Inaccessible Interpolated Imagery: How Coffee Farmers In The State Of Chiapas Might Access Political Economic Opportunity Through Representation, Paolo Fiann Bicchieri

Master's Theses

Here is a useful parable to boil down the idea of this project and set the tone: when one goes to the bar to tell a story about a fight at the bar, they would never venture to place themselves as the hero of the brawl, taking out three drunkards in a single punch, unless they were really in the bar, at that time, fighting a good fight. One would never do this as the bartender, locals, and regulars would all know if this were the case or not. Yet transnational corporations, governments, and even consumers do this all the …

The Great Resignation: A Content Analysis Of News Sources' Portrayals Of The Covid-19 Labor Shortage., Mackenzie Williams

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

When workers left the labor market in large numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, proclamations of a labor shortage emerged extensively throughout the news. In this study, I analyze the coverage of the worker shortage among three news sources with different political orientations. Several themes emerged from analyzing a total of 75 articles. The findings showed that the perspective shown in the article, the cause of the labor shortage, restaurant worker portrayal, support of solutions, and opinion of the labor shortage all differed based on the political identity of the news source. This research supports previous findings that show there is …

An Examination Of Women’S Rights In South Korea: From “New Women” To Female Idols, Cece Trifoso

History | Senior Theses

Between 2000 and 2022, South Korean popular music and the accompanying entertainment industry contributed to a unique solidarity among young Korean women, whilst also perpetuating harmful stereotypes. The widespread popularity of all-girl music groups from Korea has motivated women around the world, including in Korea itself, to stand on their own and establish recognition without the influence of men. This relatively new era in Korean feminist thought requires historical contextualization in order to fully appreciate and comprehend its impact on a globalized society. The evolution of feminist thought in South Korea encompasses the accumulation of knowledge from various conversations on …

Barriers To Post-Secondary Success, Douglas Swanson, Najeana Henderson, Maritza Sloan

Dissertations

This study reviews factors that prior studies have identified or failed to consider as barriers to post-secondary success. The three main areas include academic success for Latinx students after high school, organizational systems and their impact on African-American students’ postsecondary readiness, and what workers think of their high school education with regards to career preparedness.

Five factors are identified as major barriers for Latinx students to continue in a higher education system. A survey of former students from Saint Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas, metroplex area identified 56 Latinx students that participated in an initial survey. This led to a …

Feminización De Las Ocupaciones Y Diferencias Salariales Por Género Para Colombia Urbana: 2008-2016, Maria Camila Palacios Riaño

Economía

Evidencia empírica sugiere que, como resultado de la segregación ocupacional en la brecha salarial de género, las ocupaciones mayoritariamente desarrolladas por mujeres ofrecen salarios más bajos para ambos sexos. La concentración constante en grupos de trabajo con salarios bajos perpetúa al mismo tiempo el fenómeno de segregación y la desventaja salarial por género. El presente trabajo sigue la metodología utilizada por Isaza Castro (2013), donde se realiza una clasificación de las ocupaciones para el caso colombiano y una estimación de ecuaciones de salarios para hombres y mujeres controlando por la proporción de mujeres existente al interior de cada ocupación como …

Trends On Labour Migration In Pakistani Media (Media Analysis Report), Sabrina Toppa, Zaigham Abbas

CEJ Research and Publications

The purpose of this media review report is to produce a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the overall coverage of labour migration in Urdu and English-language media outlets from 2017 to 2020. Using media content analysis of print newspapers, TV clips, and social media channels, as well as qualitative interviews with journalists producing stories for the aforementioned media outlets, the report looks at how the current Pakistani media landscape has covered the topic of labour migration.

The Critical Need For Mental Health Education To Be Mandated In New Mexico's Public Schools, Bonnie L. Murphy

Shared Knowledge Conference

Based on a review of research and best practices in mental health awareness and skills, this inquiry project argues for state legislative policies that would require mental health awareness and skills in the K-12 curriculum. Mental health affects individual accomplishments in every stage of people’s lives beginning in early childhood and throughout the life cycle. Prevention and treatment of mental illness plays a key role in the ability of an individual to cope with loss and develop resiliency and perseverance in challenging times and to make better decisions that improve the individual’s life and the lives of those around them. …

Making It Pay To Be A Fan: The Political Economy Of Digital Sports Fandom And The Sports Media Industry, Andrew Mckinney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a series of case studies and sociological examinations of the role that the sports media industry and mediated sport fandom plays in the political economy of the Internet. The Internet has structurally changed the way that sport fans access sport and accelerated the processes through which the capitalist actors in the sports media industry have been able to subsume them. The three case studies examined in this dissertation are examples of how digital media technologies have both helped fans become more active producers and consumers of sports and made the sports media industry an integral and vanguard …

The Labor Of Play: The Political Economy Of Computer Game Culture, Justin Schumaker

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation questions the relationship between computer game culture and ideologies of neoliberalism and financialization. It questions the role computer games play in cultivating neoliberal practices and how the industry develops games and systems making play and work indistinguishable activities. Chapter 1 examines how computer game inculcate players into neoliberal practice through play. In chapter 2, the project shows Blizzard Entertainment systematically redevelops their games to encourage perpetual play aimed at increasing the consumption of digital commodities and currencies. Chapter 3 considers the role of esports, or professional competitive computer game play, to disperse neoliberal ideologies amongst nonprofessional players. Chapter …

"Extra-Activism", Dorothy Kidd

Media Studies

No abstract provided.

What Is The 'Economic Value' Of Learning English In Spain?, Molly M. Robbins

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper uses historical and economic references to evaluate the economic value of learning English in Spain. Seeing that English is the lingua franca in politics, business, and technology, it is a necessary skill for Spanish citizens to possess in order to efficiently interact in foreign relations of all kinds. Due to Franco’s harsh language policies, and Spain’s ineffective education system, Spain has lacked the same linguistic exposure to foreign languages—especially English—than the rest of Europe. By referencing the previous literature written about the relationship between language and earnings, this paper seeks to find the economic incentive for Spaniards to …

Internal Communication In Ireland Before And During The Economic Recession From The Perspective Of Communication Practice, Technology, And Ethics, Laoise O'Murchú

Doctoral

Internal communication in Ireland from the ‘celtic tiger’ era through to the economic
recession from the perspective of: communication practice, technology and ethics.
This thesis examines the practice of internal communication in Irish public and
private sector organisations during 2007/8 and 2010. This period spans the end of
Ireland’s ‘celtic tiger’ economy and the development of a major recession. All the
case study organisations have been affected by the credit crunch and are experiencing
economic, financial and ethical challenges.
The practices of internal communication in Ireland has evaded in depth academic
examination in communications literature. Therefore, the contribution to knowledge …

Book Review: Capital And Its Discontents: Conversations With Radical Thinkers In A Time Of Tumult By Sasha Lilly (Pm Press, 2011), Nick J. Sciullo

Nick J. Sciullo

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Internet Access On Labor-Supply Decisions, Katrina Kosec, Sara Champion, Christopher Stanton

Katrina Kosec

The prevalence of Internet access in the home has increased markedly over the last decade. In many respects, it has changed the way people live and work. This paper examines the relationship between Internet in the home (and whether it is broadband) and various measures of labor supply using data from the Current Population Survey and the American Time Use Survey for the period 1998–2010. After including extensive controls, we document that home Internet access is highly positively cor¬related with employment, with total hours worked, and with the amount and share of work done from home. We also document that …

Collective Choice, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

This short nontechnical article reviews the Arrow Impossibility Theorem and its implications for rational democratic decisionmaking. In the 1950s, economist Kenneth J. Arrow proved that no method for producing a unique social choice involving at least three choices and three actors could satisfy four seemingly obvious constraints that are practically constitutive of democratic decisionmaking. Any such method must violate such a constraint and risks leading to disturbingly irrational results such and Condorcet cycling. I explain the theorem in plain, nonmathematical language, and discuss the history, range, and prospects of avoiding what seems like a fundamental theoretical challenge to the possibility …

Ceo Compensation At Tarp Institutions, Karl T. Muth

Karl T Muth

This is a PowerPoint presentation given at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business on March 10, 2010. It requires the newest version of Microsoft PowerPoint.

Trends In The Job Market For Librarians: 1985-2000, Kelly Blessinger

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

This article discusses the major influence that the information age has had on librarianship. Computer-related technology has changed the way librarians do their jobs, their duties and has created a whole new realm of opportunities for librarians. Data from the Library Journal annual salary surveys and the ALA Placement Center are included in charts and figures to track job market trends from 1985-2000. Issues such as salary, job mobility and education are also discussed.

Meeting By Signals, Playing By Norms: Complementary Accounts Of Non-Legal Cooperation In Institutions, Edward B. Rock, Michael L. Wachter

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.