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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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Economics

W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Series

2003

Articles 1 - 16 of 16

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Community Norms And Organizational Practices: The Legitimization Of Wage Arrears In Russia, 1992-1999, John S. Earle, Andrew Spicer, Klara Sabirianova Peter Dec 2003

Community Norms And Organizational Practices: The Legitimization Of Wage Arrears In Russia, 1992-1999, John S. Earle, Andrew Spicer, Klara Sabirianova Peter

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

What role do community norms play in the diffusion and persistence of new organizational practices? We explore this question through an examination of the widespread practice of wage arrears, the late and non-payment of wages, in Russia during the 1990s. Existing research on wage arrears most often examines this practice as a means of flexible wage adjustment under difficult economic conditions. We develop an alternative theory that explains wage arrears through their acceptance as a legitimate form of organizational behavior within local communities. Our empirical analysis finds some support for the neoclassical position that wage arrears reflect adjustment to negative …

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Benchmarking Study Of The Small Business Environment In Saginaw County, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts Nov 2003

Benchmarking Study Of The Small Business Environment In Saginaw County, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

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Thoughts On American Manufacturing Decline And Revitalization, Timothy J. Bartik Sep 2003

Thoughts On American Manufacturing Decline And Revitalization, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The recent decline in American manufacturing probably reflects long-run problems. A sensible approach to revitalizing American manufacturing would focus on overcoming inefficiencies in the development of manufacturing, such as problems in small- and medium-sized manufacturers getting information about deploying new technologies. This approach to revitalizing manufacturing can best be implemented through federal efforts to encourage and support state and local economic development policies that help enhance manufacturing productivity. A decentralized approach to the revitalization of manufacturing encourages a variety of creative policies, is adaptable to local conditions, and is consistent with American political traditions.

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The Benton Harbor Area Benchmarking Study, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts Sep 2003

The Benton Harbor Area Benchmarking Study, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

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Economic Impact Of State Farm Insurance’S Michigan Operations Center On The Marshall Area And Calhoun County, Brad R. Watts Aug 2003

Economic Impact Of State Farm Insurance’S Michigan Operations Center On The Marshall Area And Calhoun County, Brad R. Watts

Reports

The analysis estimates the economic impact on the Marshall area and Calhoun County of the closing of State Farm Insurance Company's Michigan Operations Center in the city of Marshall.

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An Economic Development Benchmarking System For Rural Michigan, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts Aug 2003

An Economic Development Benchmarking System For Rural Michigan, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

Economic performance and conditions of Michigan's rural regions are compared and contrasted to a comparison group of similar rural regions in neighboring states, as well as to urban areas.

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Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 2003 Survey Data, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Jason M. Preuss Aug 2003

Assessment Of Kalamazoo County's Education For Employment (Efe) Programs Using 2003 Survey Data, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Jason M. Preuss

Reports

No abstract provided.

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Cost-Effectiveness Of Targeted Reemployment Bonuses, Christopher J. O'Leary, Paul T. Decker, Stephen A. Wandner Aug 2003

Cost-Effectiveness Of Targeted Reemployment Bonuses, Christopher J. O'Leary, Paul T. Decker, Stephen A. Wandner

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Targeting reemployment bonus offers to unemployment insurance (UI) claimants identified as most likely to exhaust benefits is estimated to reduce benefit payments. We show that targeting bonus offers with profiling models similar to those in state Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services systems can improve cost effectiveness. Since estimated average benefit payments do not steadily decline as the eligibility screen is gradually tightened, we find that narrow targeting is not optimal. The best candidate is a low bonus amount with a long qualification period, targeted to the half of profiled claimants most likely to exhaust their UI benefit entitlement.

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Net Impact And Benefit-Cost Estimates Of The Workforce Development System In Washington State, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Wei-Jang Huang Jul 2003

Net Impact And Benefit-Cost Estimates Of The Workforce Development System In Washington State, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Wei-Jang Huang

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

This study estimates the net impacts and private and social benefits and costs of nine workforce development programs administered in Washington State. Five of the programs serve jobready adults: Community and Technical College Job Preparatory Training, Private Career Schools, Apprenticeships, Job Training and Partnership Act (JTPA) Title III programs, and Community and Technical College Worker Retraining. Two of the programs serve adults with employment barriers: Community and Technical College Adult Basic Skills Education and JTPA Title II-A programs. The other two programs serve youth: JTPA Title II-C programs and Secondary Career and Technical Education. The net impact analyses were conducted …

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Net Impact Estimates Of The Workforce Development System In Washington State, Kevin M. Hollenbeck Jul 2003

Net Impact Estimates Of The Workforce Development System In Washington State, Kevin M. Hollenbeck

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This study estimates the net impacts and private and social benefits and costs of nine workforce development programs administered in Washington State. Five of the programs serve job-ready adults: Community and Technical College Job Training, Private Career Schools, Apprenticeships, Job Training and Partnership Act (JTPA) Title III programs, and Community and Technical College Worker Retraining. Two of the programs serve adults with employment barriers : Community and Technical College Adult Basic Skills Education and JTPA Title II-A programs. The other two programs serve youth: JTPA Title II-C programs and Secondary Career Technical Education. The net impact analyses were conducted using …

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The Productivity Consequences Of Two Ergonomic Interventions, Kelly Derango, Benjamin C. Amick, Michelle Robertson, Ted Rooney, Anne Moore, Lianna Bazzani May 2003

The Productivity Consequences Of Two Ergonomic Interventions, Kelly Derango, Benjamin C. Amick, Michelle Robertson, Ted Rooney, Anne Moore, Lianna Bazzani

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Pre- and post-intervention data on health outcomes, absenteeism, and productivity from a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design field study of office workers was used to evaluate the economic consequences of two ergonomic interventions. Researchers assigned individuals in the study to three groups: a group that received an ergonomically designed chair and office ergonomics training; a group that received office ergonomics training only; and a control group. The results show that while training alone has neither a statistically significant effect on health nor productivity, the chair-with-training intervention substantially reduced pain and improved productivity. Neither intervention affected sick leave hours.

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A New Wprs Profiling Model For Michigan, Randall W. Eberts, Christopher J. O'Leary Apr 2003

A New Wprs Profiling Model For Michigan, Randall W. Eberts, Christopher J. O'Leary

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services (WPRS) system was established nationwide following the 1993 enactment of Public Law 103-152. The law requires state employment security agencies to profile new claimants for regular unemployment insurance (UI) benefits to identify those most likely to exhaust their regular benefits, and refer them to reemployment services to promote a faster transition to new employment. In November 1994, the Michigan Employment Security Commission (MESC) began profiling new UI claimants with technical assistance from the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Since WPRS profiling was introduced in Michigan much has changed, but the same model …

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Quality Of Life And Diversity In The Benton Harbor Metropolitan Area: Findings And Suggestions In Attracting Professional Workers, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts Mar 2003

Quality Of Life And Diversity In The Benton Harbor Metropolitan Area: Findings And Suggestions In Attracting Professional Workers, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

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Fdss Training Manual: Instructions For Using The Frontline Decision Support System, Christopher J. O'Leary, Kim Kornokovich Feb 2003

Fdss Training Manual: Instructions For Using The Frontline Decision Support System, Christopher J. O'Leary, Kim Kornokovich

Reports

No abstract provided.

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The Role Of Temporary Agency Employment In Tight Labor Markets, Susan N. Houseman, Arne L. Kalleberg, George A. Erickcek Jan 2003

The Role Of Temporary Agency Employment In Tight Labor Markets, Susan N. Houseman, Arne L. Kalleberg, George A. Erickcek

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper examines the reasons why employers used and even increased their use of temporary help agencies during the tight labor markets of the 1990s. Based on case study evidence from the hospital and auto supply industries, we evaluate various hypotheses for this phenomenon. In high-skilled occupations, our results are consistent with the view that employers paid substantially more to agency help to avoid raising wages for their regular workers and to fill vacancies while they recruited workers for permanent positions. In low-skilled occupations, our evidence suggests that temporary help agencies facilitated the use of more "risky" workers by lowering …

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Local Economic Development Policies, Timothy J. Bartik Jan 2003

Local Economic Development Policies, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This chapter seeks to provide useful advice for local government policy towards economic development programs. The chapter: reviews the size and scope of local economic development programs in the United States; critically analyzes the various rationales offered for these programs; makes recommendations for what local policy should do about business attraction and incentives, business retention, new business development, high technology development, brownfield development, distressed neighborhoods, and downtowns; and discusses how local economic development programs should be organized, managed, and evaluated.

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