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Full-Text Articles in Labor Economics

Young Workers Left Behind: Hiring And The Great Recession, Eliza C. Forsythe Jan 2015

Young Workers Left Behind: Hiring And The Great Recession, Eliza C. Forsythe

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.


The Job Search Intensity Supply Curve: How Labor Market Conditions Affect Job Search Effort, Jeremy Schwartz Aug 2014

The Job Search Intensity Supply Curve: How Labor Market Conditions Affect Job Search Effort, Jeremy Schwartz

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

During the Great Recession of 2007, unemployment reached nearly 10 percent and the ratio of unemployment to open positions (as measured by the Help Wanted OnLine Index) more than tripled. The weak labor market prompted an unprecedented extension in the length of time in which a claimant can collect unemployment insurance (UI) to 99 weeks, at an expense to date of $226.4 billion. While many claim that extending UI during a recession will reduce search intensity, the effect of weak labor market conditions on search remains a mystery. As a result, policymakers are in the dark as to whether UI …


Aggregate Demand, Idle Time, And Unemployment, Pascal Michaillat, Emmanuel Saez Jul 2014

Aggregate Demand, Idle Time, And Unemployment, Pascal Michaillat, Emmanuel Saez

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper develops a model of unemployment fluctuations. The model keeps the architecture of the Barro and Grossman (1971) general disequilibrium model but replaces the disequilibrium framework on the labor and product markets by a matching framework. On the product and labor markets, both price and tightness adjust to equalize supply and demand. There is one more variable than equilibrium condition on each market, so we consider various price mechanisms to close the model, from completely flexible to completely rigid. With some price rigidity, aggregate demand influences unemployment through a simple mechanism: higher aggregate demand raises the probability that firms …


The Ups And Downs In Women's Employment—Shifting Composition Or Behavior From 1970 To 2010?, Kristin E. Smith May 2014

The Ups And Downs In Women's Employment—Shifting Composition Or Behavior From 1970 To 2010?, Kristin E. Smith

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper tracks factors contributing to the ups and downs in women’s employment from 1970 to 2010 using regression decompositions focusing on whether changes are due to shifts in the means (composition of women) or due to shifts in coefficients (inclinations of women to work for pay). Compositional shifts in education exerted a positive effect on women’s employment across all decades, while shifts in the composition of other family income, particularly at the highest deciles, depressed married women’s employment over the 1990s contributing to the slowdown in this decade. A positive coefficient effect of education was found in all decades, …


Privatizing Railroad Retirement, Steven A. Sass Jan 2014

Privatizing Railroad Retirement, Steven A. Sass

Upjohn Press

Sass discusses the evolution of the U.S. Railroad Retirement System and whether its ability to invest its assets in private equities offers any lessons for Social Security.


What Does The Minimum Wage Do?, Dale Belman, Paul J. Wolfson Jan 2014

What Does The Minimum Wage Do?, Dale Belman, Paul J. Wolfson

Upjohn Press

This book attempts to make sense of the research on the minimum wage that began in the early 1990s. The authors look at who is affected by the minimum wage, both directly and indirectly; which observable, measurable variables (e.g., wages, employment, school enrollment) the minimum wage influences; how long it takes for the variables to respond to the minimum wage and the size and desirability of the effect; why the minimum wage has the results it does (and not others); and the workers most likely to be affected by changes to the minimum wage.


Social Security And Pension Reform: International Perspectives, Marek Szczepański Editor, John A. Turner Editor Jan 2014

Social Security And Pension Reform: International Perspectives, Marek Szczepański Editor, John A. Turner Editor

Upjohn Press

Countries around the world are reforming their social security and pension systems. International studies often focus on social security reforms in Europe and North America, and may include Latin America. Reforms, however, are also occurring in Asia and Africa, and include reforms of voluntary and employer-provided pensions as well as social security programs. This book discusses both social security and employer-provided pension reforms, as well as reforms in most regions of the world.


Licensing Occupations: How Time And Regulatory Attainment Matter, Morris M. Kleiner Oct 2013

Licensing Occupations: How Time And Regulatory Attainment Matter, Morris M. Kleiner

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.


Michigan's Auto Workers: Tracking Their Transition During Significant Industry Restructuring, Randall W. Eberts Jul 2013

Michigan's Auto Workers: Tracking Their Transition During Significant Industry Restructuring, Randall W. Eberts

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.


Michigan's Displaced Auto Workers: Using Administrative Data To Track Their Transition During Significant Industry Restructuring, Randall W. Eberts Jul 2013

Michigan's Displaced Auto Workers: Using Administrative Data To Track Their Transition During Significant Industry Restructuring, Randall W. Eberts

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.


Tracking The Transition Of Michigan's Displaced Auto Workers During Significant Restructuring In The Auto Industry, Randall W. Eberts, Kenneth J. Kline Jul 2013

Tracking The Transition Of Michigan's Displaced Auto Workers During Significant Restructuring In The Auto Industry, Randall W. Eberts, Kenneth J. Kline

Reports

No abstract provided.


Employment Relations And Wages: What Can We Learn From Subjective Assessments?, Marta Lachowska May 2013

Employment Relations And Wages: What Can We Learn From Subjective Assessments?, Marta Lachowska

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper studies the link between hourly wages and workers’ subjective assessments of how easy it would be to find another job as good as the present one, and how easy it would be for an employer to replace an employee. First, using high-quality data, I study the correlates of these two assessments. Second, I study whether respondents who report better outside opportunities and respondents who think they are difficult to replace receive higher wages. The results appear to be consistent with predictions of at least three theoretical frameworks: human capital theory, search theory, and a “locus of control” model.


Do Minimum Wage Laws Affect People Who Are Not Covered? Evidence From Documented And Undocumented, Hourly And Piece Rate Workers In U.S. Agriculture, Anita Alves Pena Apr 2013

Do Minimum Wage Laws Affect People Who Are Not Covered? Evidence From Documented And Undocumented, Hourly And Piece Rate Workers In U.S. Agriculture, Anita Alves Pena

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

While a stated goal of minimum wage increases is to benefit low-income workers, some employers are not obligated to provide at least minimum wages to all employees. U.S. farm employers comprise one of these groups. Employees of large farms and H2-A workers (temporary nonimmigrant workers lawfully admitted to perform temporary or seasonal agricultural services) are protected by minimum wage legislation, while other migrant workers (especially those who are paid piece rate) are exempt. Furthermore, U.S. agriculture is characterized by a large percentage of illegal migrants, and workers who are illegal may or may not receive wages above minimum levels. This …


Say Pays! Shareholder Voice And Firm Performance, Maria Guadalupe, Vicente Cuñat, Mireia Gine Mar 2013

Say Pays! Shareholder Voice And Firm Performance, Maria Guadalupe, Vicente Cuñat, Mireia Gine

Upjohn Institute Policy Papers

This paper estimates the effect of increasing shareholder “voice” in corporations through a new governance rule that provides shareholders with a regular vote on pay: Say on Pay. We apply a regression discontinuity design to Say on Pay shareholder proposals to deal with prior expectations and the endogeneity of internal governance rules. Adopting Say on Pay leads to large increases in market value (5.4 percent), firm profitability, and long-term performance. In contrast, we find small effects on the level and structure of pay. This suggests that Say on Pay operates as a regular confidence vote, increasing efficiency, and market value.


Social Costs Of Jobs Lost Due To Environmental Regulations, Timothy J. Bartik Mar 2013

Social Costs Of Jobs Lost Due To Environmental Regulations, Timothy J. Bartik

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper estimates the social costs of job loss due to environmental regulation. Per job lost, potential social costs of job loss are high, plausibly over $100,000 in present value costs (2012 dollars) per permanently lost job. However, these social costs will typically be far less than the earnings associated with lost jobs, because labor markets and workers adjust, increased leisure has some value, and employers benefit from wage reductions. A plausible range for social costs is 8–32 percent of the associated earnings of the lost jobs. Social costs will be higher for older workers, high-wage jobs, and in high …


Family Income, Student Achievement, And Educational Costs, Timothy J. Bartik Feb 2013

Family Income, Student Achievement, And Educational Costs, Timothy J. Bartik

Presentations

No abstract provided.


The Impact Of Financialization On Management And Employment Outcomes, Rosemary L. Batt, Eileen Appelbaum Feb 2013

The Impact Of Financialization On Management And Employment Outcomes, Rosemary L. Batt, Eileen Appelbaum

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper examines three questions: 1) How and why have financial models of doing business emerged in the last three decades? 2) What new forms of financial capitalism have become important in the current period? 3) How do new financial intermediaries, such as private equity, and the financial strategies of nonfinancial corporations affect the management of companies and employment outcomes? The paper describes how deregulation and institutional change created the conditions for a new, more powerful role for finance capital in the governance of U.S. companies, and it synthesizes the empirical evidence on the process and outcomes of financialization in …


Stages Of Occupational Regulation: Analysis Of Case Studies, Morris M. Kleiner Jan 2013

Stages Of Occupational Regulation: Analysis Of Case Studies, Morris M. Kleiner

Upjohn Press

Kleiner examines occupations that are at various stages of regulation to determine to what extent regulation has influenced the individuals in the occupations, consumers, and related occupational practitioners.


The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act: The Role Of Workforce Programs, Burt S. Barnow Editor, Richard A. Hobbie Editor Jan 2013

The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act: The Role Of Workforce Programs, Burt S. Barnow Editor, Richard A. Hobbie Editor

Upjohn Press

This book examines the nature of the workforce development and UI policy decisions made nationwide in response to the recession, state and local administrators’ perspectives on the policy developments and economic challenges, and implementation of key Recovery Act provisions, with a particular focus on workforce development initiatives in the Recovery Act.


Worker Signals Among New College Graduates: The Role Of Selectivity And Gpa, Brad J. Hershbein Jan 2013

Worker Signals Among New College Graduates: The Role Of Selectivity And Gpa, Brad J. Hershbein

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Recent studies have found a large earnings premium to attending a more selective college, but the mechanisms underlying this premium have received little attention and remain unclear. In order to shed light on this question, I develop a multidimensional signaling model relying on college grades and selectivity that rationalizes students’ choices of effort and firms’ wage-setting behavior. The model is then used to produce predictions of how the interaction of the signals should be related to wages, namely that the return on college GPA should fall the more selective the institution attended. Using five data sets that span the early …


Implementation Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act: Workforce Development And Unemployment Insurance Provisions, Burt S. Barnow, Jing Cai, Yvette Chocolaad, Randall W. Eberts, Richard A. Hobbie, Joyce Kaiser, Tara Smith, John Trutko, Wayne Vroman, Stephen A. Wandner Oct 2012

Implementation Of The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act: Workforce Development And Unemployment Insurance Provisions, Burt S. Barnow, Jing Cai, Yvette Chocolaad, Randall W. Eberts, Richard A. Hobbie, Joyce Kaiser, Tara Smith, John Trutko, Wayne Vroman, Stephen A. Wandner

External Papers and Reports

No abstract provided.


Part-Time And Short Hours In Retail In The United States, Canada, And Mexico: How Institutions Matter, Françoise Carré, Chris Tilly Oct 2012

Part-Time And Short Hours In Retail In The United States, Canada, And Mexico: How Institutions Matter, Françoise Carré, Chris Tilly

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.


Data Analysis Of The Implementation Of The Recovery Act: Workforce Development And Unemployment Insurance Provisions, Randall W. Eberts, Stephen A. Wandner Oct 2012

Data Analysis Of The Implementation Of The Recovery Act: Workforce Development And Unemployment Insurance Provisions, Randall W. Eberts, Stephen A. Wandner

Book Chapters

No abstract provided.


Discrimination And The Effects Of Drug Testing On Black Employment, Abigail Wozniak Jun 2012

Discrimination And The Effects Of Drug Testing On Black Employment, Abigail Wozniak

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Nearly half of U.S. employers test job applicants and workers for drugs. I use variation in the timing and nature of drug testing regulation to study discrimination against blacks related to perceived drug use. Black employment in the testing sector is suppressed in the absence of testing, consistent with ex ante discrimination on the basis of drug use perceptions. Adoption of pro-testing legislation increases black employment in the testing sector by 7–30 percent and relative wages by 1.4–13.0 percent, with the largest shifts among low skilled black men. Results suggest that employers substitute white women for blacks in the absence …


Public Pension Crisis And Investment Risk Taking: Underfunding, Fiscal Constraints, Public Accounting, And Policy Implications, Nancy Mohan, Ting Zhang May 2012

Public Pension Crisis And Investment Risk Taking: Underfunding, Fiscal Constraints, Public Accounting, And Policy Implications, Nancy Mohan, Ting Zhang

Upjohn Institute Policy Papers

Public pension funds that cover retirement benefits for almost 20 million active or retired employees have been significantly underfunded. An important, though largely overlooked, issue related to pension underfunding is the excessive investment risk levels assumed by public plans. Our analysis suggests government accounting standards strongly affect public fund investment risk, as higher return assumptions (used to discount pension liabilities) are associated with higher investment risk. Public funds undertake more risk if they are underfunded and have lower investment returns in previous years, consistent with the risk transfer hypothesis. Furthermore, pension funds in states facing fiscal constraints allocate more assets …


Work Hours In Retail: Room For Improvement, Françoise J. Carré, Chris Tilly Apr 2012

Work Hours In Retail: Room For Improvement, Françoise J. Carré, Chris Tilly

Upjohn Institute Policy Papers

With full-time jobs, hourly wages are appropriate primary indicators of job quality. However, in sectors where full-time schedules do not dominate, total hours matter for job quality and worker outcomes. We explored hour levels and trends in retail trade and its largest subsector, grocery stores. Retail is known for part-time and short shifts. With a comparison of retail hours in three countries—the United States, Canada, and Mexico—we contribute insights into aspects of the U.S. policy and regulatory systems that could be altered in order to improve retail jobs.


Resolving America's Human Capital Paradox: A Jobs Compact For The Future, Thomas A. Kochan Apr 2012

Resolving America's Human Capital Paradox: A Jobs Compact For The Future, Thomas A. Kochan

Upjohn Institute Policy Papers

It is widely recognized that human capital is essential to sustaining a competitive economy at high and rising living standards. Yet acceptance of persistent high unemployment, stagnant wages, and other indicators of declining job quality suggests that policymakers and employers undervalue human capital. This paper traces the root cause of this apparent paradox to the primacy afforded shareholder value over human resource considerations in American firms and the longstanding gridlock over employment policy. I suggest that a new jobs compact will be needed to close the deficit in jobs lost in the recent recession and to achieve sustained real wage …


What Determines Public Pension Investment Risk-Taking Policy?, Nancy Mohan, Ting Zhang Apr 2012

What Determines Public Pension Investment Risk-Taking Policy?, Nancy Mohan, Ting Zhang

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.


Labor Force Participation In Mississippi And Other Southern States, Marta Lachowska, Stephen A. Woodbury Apr 2012

Labor Force Participation In Mississippi And Other Southern States, Marta Lachowska, Stephen A. Woodbury

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.


Short Hours, Long Hours: Hour Levels And Trends In The Retail Industry In The United States, Canada, And Mexico, Françoise Carré, Chris Tilly Apr 2012

Short Hours, Long Hours: Hour Levels And Trends In The Retail Industry In The United States, Canada, And Mexico, Françoise Carré, Chris Tilly

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

In settings where most workers have full-time schedules, hourly wages are appropriate primary indicators of job quality and worker outcomes. However, in sectors where full-time schedules do not dominate—primarily service-producing activities—total hours matter, in addition to hourly wages, for job quality and worker outcomes. In this paper we employ a sector-focused, comparative framework to further examine hours levels—measured as average weekly hours—and trends in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. We analyze the retail sector, which is of interest because of its high rate of part-time employment in the U.S. Based on our fieldwork in the United States and Mexico …