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Full-Text Articles in Business
Segmented Labour Markets In South Africa, Gary S. Fields
Segmented Labour Markets In South Africa, Gary S. Fields
Gary S Fields
[Excerpt] The textbook labour market model aggregates all workers, all employers and all sectors of the economy into a single labour market. In this single labour market, workers supply labour, employers demand labour and the rate of pay (termed wage for shorthand) is determined by the intersection of supply and demand. Segmented labour market analysis proceeds from a different starting point. Workers, employers and sectors are not aggregated together. Rather, two or more labour market segments are identified, the groupings reflecting fundamental differences in how labour supply, labour demand and wage-determination mechanisms operate in different segments. For example, in the …
Changes In Employment And Working Conditions Among Technical And Professional Workers, Rosemary Batt, Danielle Van Jaarsveld
Changes In Employment And Working Conditions Among Technical And Professional Workers, Rosemary Batt, Danielle Van Jaarsveld
Rosemary Batt
Recent organizing drives and strike activity among technical and professional employees raise the question of whether the employment conditions of these workers are deteriorating more generally. To consider this question, this paper reviews empirical research and national surveys on trends in employment contracts and working conditions of technical and professional employees. On average, we find that employment security and benefits have deteriorated, more pay is at risk, and hours of work have increased, negatively spilling over from work to family life.
Part-Time Employment In The United States, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Pamela Rosenberg, Jeanne Li
Part-Time Employment In The United States, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Pamela Rosenberg, Jeanne Li
Ronald G. Ehrenberg
[Excerpt] To say that part-time workers are less costly than full-time workers, however, is not an explanation for the trend in the use of part-time employees that has occurred. Rather, one must show that the relative cost advantage of part-time workers has increased over time and that variations in the relative cost advantage are associated with variations in the usage of part-time employment. Somewhat surprisingly, few researchers have tried to do this, and even these only indirectly. This paper addresses this issue, albeit in a slightly different way, focusing on data from the United States. We begin in the next …
Don't Blame Faculty For High Tuition: The Annual Report On The Economic Status Of The Profession, 2003-04, Ronald Ehrenberg
Don't Blame Faculty For High Tuition: The Annual Report On The Economic Status Of The Profession, 2003-04, Ronald Ehrenberg
Ronald G. Ehrenberg
[Excerpt] The bottom line is that although faculty and staff salary in-creases obviously contribute to increases in tuition, other factors have played more important roles during the last quarter century. These factors include the escalating costs of benefits for all employees, reductions in state support of public institutions, growing institutional financial-aid costs, expansion of the science and research infrastructure at research universities, and the increasing costs of information technology. If tuition and fee increases had been held to the rate of average faculty salary increases during this period, average tuition and fees would be substantially lower today in both the …
Unequal Progress: The Annual Report On The Economic Status Of The Profession 2002-03, Ronald Ehrenberg
Unequal Progress: The Annual Report On The Economic Status Of The Profession 2002-03, Ronald Ehrenberg
Ronald G. Ehrenberg
[Excerpt] Most colleges and universities adopted budgets for the 2002-03 academic year in the spring and early summer of 2002. At that time, a pessimist might have cited several factors – negative rates of return from institutional endowments, a rising unemployment rate, an economic recession, and large increases in college and university enrollments, for example - to predict that faculty members would not see their earnings increase substantially in real terms in the coming year. The good news is that, overall and on average, the pessimists' worst fears proved incorrect. The bad news is that the overall aver-ages don't tell …
Unemployment Insurance, Duration Of Unemployment, And Subsequent Wage Gain, Ronald Ehrenberg, Ronald Oaxaca
Unemployment Insurance, Duration Of Unemployment, And Subsequent Wage Gain, Ronald Ehrenberg, Ronald Oaxaca
Ronald G. Ehrenberg
[Excerpt] In order to evaluate what the "optimal" level of UI benefits is, one must therefore first estimate the magnitude of the relationships between UI benefits levels and unemployed workers' durations of unemployment and post-unemployment wages. There have been several previous studies of the impact of UI benefits on duration of spells of unemployment, however none have been completely satisfactory methodologically. To our knowledge, there have been no previous studies of the system's impact on subsequent wage rates. We attempt to fill these gaps, utilizing data from the National Longitudinal Survey (NLS) to estimate both relationships. The plan of our …
What Did Unions Do In Nineteenth-Century Britain?, George R. Boyer
What Did Unions Do In Nineteenth-Century Britain?, George R. Boyer
George R. Boyer
The article examines the development of the insurance function of trade unions. It analyzes how such policies worked, and why union benefit packages differed across occupations. It also addresses the impact of insurance policies on union organization. Insurance benefits increased the ability of unions to attract and retain members. They did not, however, significantly increase the power of union leaders relative to employers or union rank and file.
Standing At A Crossroads: The Building Trades In The Twenty-First Century, Mark Erlich, Jeffrey Grabelsky
Standing At A Crossroads: The Building Trades In The Twenty-First Century, Mark Erlich, Jeffrey Grabelsky
Jeffrey Grabelsky
American building trades unions have historically played a critical and stabilizing role in the nation’s construction industry, establishing uniform standards and leveling the competitive playing field. Union members have enjoyed better than average wages and benefits, excellent training opportunities, and decent jobsite conditions. But in the last thirty years the industry has undergone a dramatic transformation. This article describes the decline in union density, the drop in construction wages, the growth of anti-union forces, the changes in labor force demographics, the shift toward construction management, and the emergence of an underground economy. It also analyzes how building trades unions have …