Public Policy Commons^™

A New Social Contract For The American Workplace: From Paternalism To Partnering, Murray L. Weidenbaum, Kenneth W. Chilton

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

As American business struggles to cope with global competition, technological breakthroughs, and various forms of deregulation, the workplace is being thrown into turmoil. Against this backdrop, 1994 is also on pace to set a record for publicly announced downsizings, most of them justified under the banner of "restructuring." This study is the first comprehensive look at this evolving picture.

How To Restore Employee Trust In Management: A New Social Contract For The American Workplace, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

The number of layoffs and the amount of downsizing in corporate America are both happening at unprecedented rates. Firing workers has falsely become the ultimate management tool to success. The old social contract of work in exchange for fair pay and some measure of job security is deteriorating. Accordingly, this paper introduces a new social order that replaces paternalism with partnership, views employees as value-adding resources, and focuses both employers and employees on meeting the customers' needs and desires.

Access To Capital And Technical Assistance, Richard J. Ward

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article summarizes and analyzes the views of select leaders in business, labor, banking, the government, and academia with regard to the constraints, obstacles, and recommendations to achieve economic growth in Massachusetts. The role of the state government in addressing these issues receives special attention. Access to capital and technical assistance had been regarded by many as the key constraint, particularly during the recession of the early 1990s. The author analyzes inconvenient government systems, bottlenecks, and bureaucracy as throttling the flow of capital to small-business entrepreneurs. The analysis concludes, however, that unless the state cum federal government finds ways to …

How Domestic Regulation Handicaps U.S. Global Business, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

Regulatory reform would benefit private industry. Some suggestions include: benefit-cost analysis, risk assessment, and emphasizing objectives to be achieved rather than precise methods to be used in complying with regulation.

The Savings-Exempt Income Tax (And The Companion Business Cash-Flow Tax), Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

The United States would benefit greatly by reforming the national system of taxation to encourage more saving and investment. Doing so would help to achieve faster economic growth, higher levels of unemployment, and smaller budget deficits. Specifically, a savings-exempt income tax on individuals and families coupled with a companion cash-flow tax on business should replace the existing federal income taxes.

The Evolving Corporate Board, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

Due to criticisms of corporate boards in the early 1990s, reform proposals are discussed to improve corporate governance.

Providing Quality Leadership In Roxbury: A Profile Of Leon T. Nelson, Harold Horton

Trotter Review

Poor leadership is often the cause for the inept functioning and eventual collapse of an organization or agency. This is because the leader sets the tone and to a great extent determines whether or not an organization will be viable. Leon T. Nelson, president of the Greater Roxbury Chamber of Commerce, has done his utmost to live up to the organization's motto, "Quod facis bene fac," which means doing whatever you do as well as you possibly can.

In a community that underwent drastic demographic changes during the 1970s and 1980s, when numerous businesses led the "white flight" to suburbia, …

Public Policies For The Working Poor: The Earned Income Tax Credit Versus Minimum Wage Legislation, Richard V. Burkhauser, Andrew J. Glenn

Center for Policy Research

This paper first documents the decades-long erosion of the link between low wages and low household income. It then simulates the consequences of this determination on the relative gains of programs designed to help the working poor—minimum wage increases under the Fair Labor Standards Act and increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Using data from the Current Population Survey it is found that increases in the EITC between 1989 and 1992 were far more target-efficient than was the increase in the minimum wage from $3.35 to $4.25 and that the 1993 extension of the EITC is far more …

Heath-Care Policy, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

This paper examines the Clinton health-care reform proposal.

Reuse Potential Industrial Mill Complexes For Springfield, Massachusetts, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

This report provided a cross-section of mill buildings in the Springfield, Massachusetts area. These are representative in terms of location, past and present use and surrounding activities. The analysis of the mill buildings provides an inventory of each site, and when taken together, give an overall picture of the existing condition and potential of mill buildings.

The Future Of Masonic Lodges, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The purpose of this report was to assess the effects of declining membership on Masonic Buildings throughout the Connecticut River Valley. The Masons are an international philanthropic fraternal organization which has over 31 lodges or groups which meet at 24 sites in our study area. In Massachusetts, Masonic membership has declined almost 30% in the last ten years.

Overall Economic Development Program Montachusett Region, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The goal of this report was to establish a system for one stop shopping where a project could go to one office and obtain all the permits necessary for the project to proceed; utilizing a bottom up approach so that the needs of local government are identified rather than determined by the state or federal government.

Master Plan For The Town Of Whaley, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The goal of this report was to provide guidance to the Planning Board and Board of Selectmen, among other government entities, of Whatley, Massachusetts, in developing local regulations and ordinances.

Reuse Of Six Industrial Mills In Easthampton, Massachusetts, Umass Amherst Center Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The purpose of this report was to determine the suitability for the reuse of six turn-of-the-century industrial mills in Easthampton, Massachusetts. The mills, clustered in the center of town, are an important historic and architectural resource, providing a visual link with Easthampton’s industrial heritage.

The Limits Of Preference-Based Legal Policy, Herbert J. Hovenkamp

All Faculty Scholarship

America's political institutions are built on the principle that individual preferences are central to the formation of policy. The two most important institutions in our system, democracy and the market, make individual preference decisive in the formation of policy and the allocation of resources. American legal traditions have always reflected the centrality of preference in policy determination. In private law, the importance of preference is reflected mainly in the development and persistence of common-law rules, which are intended to facilitate private transactions over legal entitlements. In constitutional law, the centrality of preference is reflected in the high position we assign …