Upjohn Open Access Books

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The Power of a Promise: Education and Economic Renewal in Kalamazoo

Michelle Miller-Adams
2009

In the first comprehensive account of the Kalamazoo Promise, Michelle Miller-Adams addresses both the potential and challenges inherent in place-based universal scholarship programs and explains why this unprecedented experiment in education-based economic renewal is being emulated by scores of cities and towns around the nation.
Income Volatility and Food Assistance in the United States

Dean Jolliffe, Editor and James Patrick Ziliak, Editor
2008

This book provides a much-needed look at recent trends in income volatility and its effects on the design of and participation in the nation's food assistance programs.
Older and Out of Work: Jobs and Social Insurance for a Changing Economy

Randall W. Eberts, Editor and Richard Hobbie, Editor
2008

The chapters in this volume, originally presented at a conference organized by the National Academy of Social Insurance, come from a group of policy experts who advance our understanding of the labor market experiences of older workers while pointing out that current workforce programs often leave this growing population underserved.
How Do We Spend Our Time?: Evidence from the American Time Use Study

Jean Kimmel, Editor
2008

This book offers contributions from a number of noted economists who use the American Time Use Survey to reveal findings that have numerous implications for the U.S. labor market. The authors examine topics such as child care, housework, household production and consumption, and shift work. In each case, the focus is on the value of time and how time spent on one activity instead of another represents value gained for the first activity and value lost for the second.
Who Really Made Your Car?: Restructuring and Geographic Change in the Auto Industry

Thomas H. Klier and James M. Rubenstein
2008

The authors present the key characteristics of the vast network of auto parts suppliers and describe the changing geography of U.S. motor vehicle production at the local, regional, national, and international levels.
A Future of Good Jobs?: America's Challenge in the Global Economy

Timothy J. Bartik , Editor and Susan N. Houseman , Editor
2008

Can the U.S. economy generate healthy growth of “good” jobs—jobs that will ensure a steady improvement in the standard of living for the middle class and that will offer a way out of poverty for low-income Americans? In this book, leading policy analysts examine the challenges facing current U.S. labor market policy and propose concrete steps to make American workers and employers more competitive in a global economy.
Working After Welfare: How Women Balance Jobs and Family in the Wake of Welfare Reform

Kristin S. Seefeldt
2008

This book, tapping into the quantitative and qualitative evidence gathered in the Women’s Employment Study (WES), offers insights into the lives of women in an urban Michigan county who left welfare for work and the role their family decisions play in their labor market decisions.
Do Community Colleges Respond to Local Needs?: Evidence from California

Duane E. Leigh and Andrew M. Gill
2007

Leigh and Gill focus on two major, policy relevant sources of change at the local level. First, on the supply side, they examine how responsive community colleges’ are at meeting the needs of the growing immigrant population for education and training. Then, on the demand side, they look into whether the need of local employers for skilled workers is being met, an issue impacted by dynamic technological change and increased global competition.
Immigrants and Their International Money Flows

Susan Pozo
2007

This book consists of a series of studies on the topic of international migration with an emphasis on workers' remittances. Chapters cover the impact of remittances on economic development and the interplay of immigration policies with human capital acquisition and labor markets in out-migration areas.
Reining in the Competition for Capital

Ann R. Markusen, Editor
2007

This book explores the causes, character, and potential remedies for the growing spatial competition for capital. Its diverse group of contributors present a broad set of workable reforms including: regulation of site consultants; mandated transparency in negotiations, bids, and deals; better structured deals; performance requirements and clawbacks for subsidized firms; and adoption of united economic development budgets.
The Shadow Workforce: Perspectives on Contingent Work in the United States, Japan, and Europe

Sandra E. Gleason
2006

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the state of nonstandard employment and its impact on employees, businesses, unions, and public policy. It not only reveals how nonstandard employment operates in the United States, Japan, and Europe, it also highlights the important similarities and differences in the labor market issues faced in those areas.
Social Security and the Stock Market: How the Pursuit of Market Magic Shapes the System

Alicia Haydock Munnell and Steven A. Sass
2006

Munnell and Sass explore whether equities could help solve the woes facing the U.S. retirement income system in general, and the Social Security shortfall in particular. They examine the experiences of three nations that added equities to the investment mix of their retirement systems—the U.K., Australia, and Canada. As these experiences show, while equities promise higher returns than government bonds, how they are implemented—as add-ons, carve-outs, or as trust fund supplements—matters greatly.
The Geography of American Poverty: Is There a Need for Place-Based Policies?

Mark D. Partridge and Dan S. Rickman
2006

Partridge and Rickman explore the wide geographic disparities in poverty across the United States. Their focus on the spatial dimensions of U.S. poverty reveals distinct differences across states, metropolitan areas, and counties and leads them to consider why antipoverty policies have succeeded in some places and failed in others.
Justice on the Job: Perspectives on the Erosion of Collective Bargaining in the United States

Richard N. Block, Editor; Sheldon Friedman, Editor; Michelle Kaminski, Editor; and Andy Levin, Editor
2006

This volume presents an influential group of researchers who examine the current state of workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain collectively. All of the researchers present empirical evidence to support their innovative ideas for advancing workers' rights.
Individual Accounts for Social Security Reform: International Perspectives on the U.S. Debate

John A. Turner
2006

John Turner uses the documented experiences of many countries—including the U.K., Sweden, Chile, Australia, Canada, and others—and the tools of economics to analyze the public policy issues surrounding the proposed implementation of individual accounts as part of the U.S. Social Security system. The result is a book that clarifies these issues while offering direction to Social Security policymakers. Also included is a comprehensive overview of the types of defined contribution plans in use today.
Licensing Occupations: Ensuring Quality or Restricting Competition?

Morris M. Kleiner
2006

This book reveals the impacts of occupational licensing on the economies of the United States and several EU countries. Kleiner provides a thorough examination of the costs and benefits of occupational licensing (OL). He offers an explanation for the growth of OL, defines the winners and losers in terms of earnings and the quality of services provided by licensees, compares the differing labor market and price impacts of OL in the United States and Europe, provides evidence on the overall net impacts of OL for society, and offers policy alternatives to OL.
The Working Life: The Labor Market for Workers in Low-Skilled Jobs

Nan L. Maxwell
2006

Maxwell presents the results of a survey of 405 employers, which queried them about jobs requiring no more than a high school education and no more than one year of work experience. These data allow her to establish the link between skills and low-skilled jobs and to reveal the current state of the labor market facing low-skilled workers. The data also highlights the knowledge and skills that employers require in low-skilled jobs and the abilities that individuals who apply for those jobs bring to the table.
Job Training That Gets Results: Ten Principles of Effective Employment Programs

Michael Bernick
2005

Bernick shows the types of training programs that work and describes for whom they work. He identifies ways to improve performance among Workforce Investment Act (WIA) contractors while exploring the best uses for state discretionary WIA funds. He also describes what it takes to make an effective career ladder program, how postemployment welfare retention or skill advancement programs can succeed, and the type of training that workers with disabilities must go through to get and retain jobs.
The Economics of Sustainable Development

Sisay Asefa, Editor
2005

This title provides an economic perspective on critical issues that characterize the topic of sustainable development. In each case, the authors give hope that the challenges facing societies can be surmounted and millions can be lifted out of poverty by adopting policies that encourage the investment in human capital, democratic institutions, and improved market performance.
Safety Practices, Firm Culture, and Workplace Injuries

Richard J. Butler and Yong-Seung Park
2005

The authors present analysis of the impact of various HRM practices on firms’ workers’ compensation costs; specifically, which practices lower firms’ workers’ compensation costs and whether the impact is the result of changes in technical efficiency or comes through induced changes in workers’ behavior.
Welfare and Work: Experiences in Six Cities

Christopher T. King and Peter R. Mueser
2005

King and Mueser examine changes in welfare participation and labor market involvement of welfare recipients in six major cities during the 1990s. By focusing on these six cities (Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, and Kansas City) they are able to glean the extent to which differences in state and local policy, administrative directives, and local labor market conditions contribute to the trends in caseloads, employment, and well-being observed among former recipients.
Workplace Injuries and Diseases: Prevention and Compensation - Essays in Honor of Terry Thomason

Karen Roberts, John F. Burton, and Matthew M. Bodah
2005

This book presents a set of essays from a group of leading scholars that provides a detailed overview of what is known about the disability insurance system while highlighting areas of the system that beg for greater understanding.
Unemployment Compensation Throughout the World: A Comparative Analysis

Wayne Vroman and Vera Brusentsev
2005

The authors book that contains a contemporary perspective and review of UC programs in numerous countries throughout the world.
Leaving Welfare: Employment and Well-Being of Families that Left Welfare in the Post-Entitlement Era

Gregory Acs and Pamela Loprest
2004

Acs and Loprest pull together information from a host of leaver studies to provide a bottom line assessment of what was learned. They compare welfare leaver outcomes across geographic areas and the nation as a whole. This effort allows them to paint a comprehensive picture of the employment, income, and hardships families experience after leaving welfare.
Labor Exchange Policy in the United States

David E. Balducchi, Editor; Randall W. Eberts, Editor; and Christopher J. O'Leary, Editor
2004

This book describes the evolution of labor exchange policy in the United States, summarizes the major findings about the effectiveness of labor exchange services, and offers reflections on the future for labor exchange policy. In addition, the contributors provide an international perspective on job brokerage functions and a discussion on the appropriate role for governments in helping job seekers and employers make the proper job match.