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Employee Benefits and Labor Markets in Canada and the United States

William T. Alpert and Stephen A. Woodbury
2000

Alpert and Woodbury present a comprehensive set of explorations into the impacts that the provision of various types of employee benefits (or lack thereof) have on labor markets. And while there are, as the editors point out, substantial differences between the employee benefits systems of Canada and the U.S., these differences showcase the impacts of specific policies related to employee benefits on labor markets.
High School Career Academies: A Pathway to Education Reform in Urban School Districts?

Nan L. Maxwell and Victor Rubin
2000

Maxwell and Rubin examine the capacity of career academies to address academic reform in terms of increased education and workplace skills. They accomplish this on two levels. First, they assess academies' development and implementation within an urban school district. Then they assess academies' potential to promote postsecondary success among academy students as compared to nonacademy students. Their findings will help educators and policymakers better understand the strengths and limitations of this method of reform.
Rising Wage Inequality: The 1980s Experience in Urban Labor Markets

Thomas Hyclak
2000

Hyclak analyzes information not utilized in previous studies of wage inequality. Whereas researchers previously relied on data derived from the national labor market, Hyclak draws on data from the Area Wage Surveys (AWS), which allows him to focus on changes in the wage structure in a sample of 20 local labor markets for the period of 1974 to 1991. This source also allows him to examine changes in the structure of wages paid for some 40 different jobs found in four different occupational groups. In addition, Hyclak is able to concentrate on jobs and the skills required as the primary determinant of wages, an approach, he says, that complements the more traditional human capital wage model that emphasizes the personal characteristics of workers
The Economics of Medicare Reform

Andrew J. Rettenmaier and Thomas Robert Saving
2000

The authors propose a means for preserving Medicare as we know it. After detailing the reasons for Medicare's financial troubles, they present a cohort-based financing plan for Medicare that represents a fundamental departure from the generation transfer method currently used.
The Economics of Sports

William S. Kern
2000

The contributors to this book, all economists at the forefront of the movement to study the economics of sports, show how a host of contemporary economic issues come into play in today's world of sports. These issues include industrial organization, influences on labor markets, monopsony power, the behavior of cartels, local economic development policies, and price discrimination.
Economic Conditions and Welfare Reform

Sheldon Danziger
1999

The relationship between welfare caseloads and the economy is one of the key issues addressed in this book. Using the most current data available, a group of the nation's leading researchers examines the effects of welfare reform prior to and after enactment of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA).
Legal U.S. Immigration: Influences on Gender, Age, and Skill Composition

Michael J. Greenwood and John M. McDowell
1999

The authors develop empirical models that enable them to examine the influence of two important determinants - source country characteristics and U.S. immigration policy - on the gender, age, and skills of immigrants coming to America.
Skill-Biased Technological Change: Evidence from a Firm-Level Survey

Donald S. Siegel
1999

Siegel provides evidence that technology adoption is associated with downsizing, skill upgrading, greater employee empowerment, and a widening wage gap. Unlike previous studies that use industry-level data, Siegel collected firm-level data on technology usage and labor composition which enable him to link the magnitude of labor market outcomes for six classes of workers to the types of technologies implemented.
When Is Transition Over?

Annette N. Brown
1999

The transition process in which a country moves from a planned economy to a market economy offers a unique opportunity for economists and policymakers to observe and understand the effects of major institutional, legal, and political changes on economic systems. But one feature of the process that has not been considered until now is when is the process over? When has a transition progressed far enough to ensure that a market system will survive and mature? Are there institutional, economic, and political standards that countries reach that measure the level of transition attained or, indeed, show that they have completed transition?
Growth in Disability Benefits: Explanations and Policy Implications

Kalman Rupp and David C. Stapleton
1998

This collection of original papers reveals why caseloads of the nation's two largest income entitlement programs for disability - Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) - have soared.
Industrial Incentives: Competition Among American States and Cities

Peter S. Fisher and Alan H. Peters
1998

This book is the first significant attempt to quantify the development efforts made by state and local governments. The authors' extensive research focuses on tax and incentive policies across the 24 most industrialized states in the United States and a sample of 112 cities from within those states.
Pensions and Productivity

Stuart Dorsey, Christopher Mark. Cornwell, and David A. Macpherson
1998

Employers typically view their investment in pension plans as a means of providing retirement income for their workers. Economists, on the other hand, view pension programs as a way to increase workplace productivity. Dorsey, Cornwell and Macpherson explore the theoretical and empirical basis for this perspective and, in the process, offer a complete and up-to-date discussion on the productivity theory of pensions.
The Economics of the Great Depression

Mark Wheeler
1998

This book contributes to our understanding of the Great Depression's immediate and long-term impacts on the American economy. Editor Mark Wheeler has gathered six scholars from a range of subdisciplines within economics who, together, offer a diverse look at the Depression's effects on the nation's GDP, workers and labor markets, and monetary policy.
Topics in Unemployment Insurance Financing

Wayne Vroman
1998

Vroman warns that states are more at risk for insolvency in the late 1990s than they were in 1990 and that a repetition of widespread and large-scale borrowing of the past is a distinct possibility. He bases this statement on an empirical study that examines historical levels of states' UI trust fund balances between recessions, and the specific methods used to finance trust fund blanaces. These methods include traditional means of financing, tax-base indexing, state reserve funds, and "flexible" financing such as solvency taxes and legislative response mechanisms. In addition, he addresses the tradeoffs of financing UI debt by either borrowing from the U.S. Treasury or state bond issues.
Lessons for Welfare Reform: An Analysis of the AFDC Caseload and Past Welfare-to-Work Programs

David M. O'Neill and June O'Neill
1997

The authors have compiled and analyzed data that identifies historical trends in the AFDC caseload, the personal characteristics of recipients, and broad patterns of welfare participation. They also offer an evaluative survey on the effectiveness of past education, training and workfare programs in reducing the AFDC caseload.
On-the-Job Training

John M. Barron, Mark C. Berger, and Dan A. Black
1997

Firms in the U.S. invest billions of dollars annually in workforce training. Growing evidence of the effects of this training on worker productivity, wages, hiring and turnover has led researchers to gradually incorporate the role of training into their analyses. Barron, Berger and Black advance this line of research by offering new evidence on the amount of training provided to workers during the first three months on the job, and the characteristics of those workers who received that training.
Teacher Pay and Teacher Quality

Dale Ballou and Michael John Podgursky
1997

Ballou and Podgursky offer solid economic analysis on issues surrounding the debate over whether increasing salaries for teachers leads to a more qualified teaching workforce. The authors find little evidence to support the link between increased salaries and teacher quality, then address two questions: (1) What went wrong? and (2) Which reforms are likely to meet with increased success?
Unemployment Insurance in the United States: Analysis of Policy Issues

Christopher J. O'Leary and Stephen A. Wandner
1997

This book presents 15 original essays that reflect the state of knowledge on policy issues critical to the performance and success of the nation's UI system. The essays are based on program data, enabling the authors to provide analyses on and recommendations for issues at the forefront of the UI policy debate. Topics include coverage, eligibility, adequacy and duration of benefits, labor market attachment, benefit financing, fraud and abuse, the intersection of UI with other income maintenance programs, federal-state relations (including devolution), and more.
Disability, Work and Cash Benefits

Jerry L. Mashaw, Virginia P. Reno, Richard V. Burkhauser, and Monroe Berkowitz
1996

This book examines the economic consequences of work disabilities, and public and private interventions that might enable disabled individuals to enter the work force for the first time, remain at work, or return to work. Three groups of papers are presented. The first group examines ways that labor market changes, policy interventions and individual choices shape the work force. The next analyzes both public and private return to work policies for the work disabled and for those with a severely disabling condition. The final group focuses on the specific needs of the disabled that affect their work force participation, including access to health care, personal assistance and assistive technologies.
Exploring the Underground Economy: Studies of Illegal and Unreported Activity

Susan Pozo
1996

Individually, the six contributors to this volume each provides a detailed examination of specific segments of the underground economy including its participants, attempts at measurement, and policy responses. Taken together, the essays offer a thorough overview that emphasizes the importance and magnitude of one of the largest economies in the world.
Labor Law, Industrial Relations and Employee Choice: The State of the Workplace in the 1990s: Hearings of the Commission on the Future of Worker-Management Relations, 1993-94

Richard N. Block, John Beck, and Daniel H. Kruger
1996

Block, Beck and Kruger present detailed examples from the testimony given during the Commission on the Future of Worker-Management Relations (commonly called the Dunlop Commission) national and regional hearings. The Commission, by hearing from a wide range of stakeholders, sought to define the state of industrial relations and labor law in the U.S. during the 1990s. Because the Commission's final reports were concerned with policy matters, they only briefly summarized the testimony. This volume draws deeply from the testimony, citing many examples that clearly illustrate the wide variety of relationships between workers and management today. In addition, it shows how the interpretation of labor law has changed over the decades.
Of Heart and Mind: Social Policy Essays in Honor of Sar A. Levitan

Garth L. Mangum and Stephen L. Mangum
1996

The essays in this volume, authored by close friends, associates and students of Sar Levitan, pay tribute to the enduring mark he left on the field of social policy. The book is loosely organized around the method of analysis taught and practiced by Levitan: identifying problems through the examination of facts, developing a thorough understanding of institutions, assessing institutional policies, and evaluating policy options.
Poverty and Inequality: The Political Economy of Redistribution

Jon Neill
1996

Despite the nation's significant and prolonged economic growth during the 1990s, the portion of aggregate income going to the poorest 20 percent of the population declined, while that of the richest 20 percent grew. The contributors to this volume examine the extent and reasons behind this distribution.
Workdays, Workhours and Work Schedules: Evidence for the United States and Germany

Daniel S. Hamermesh
1996

Hamermesh presents the first comprehensive evidence explaining how days of work, hours of work, and daily schedules are determined in the U.S. and Germany. Using an instantaneous approach to looking at unique data sets for each country, Hamermesh provides comparative analyses on factors influencing both employees' and employers' work schedules. This technique allows him to offer a new "snapshot" perspective on work scheduling that clarifies the role of fixed costs of getting to work and of adding workdays to plant schedules. He also increases our understanding of the relation between work time and the determination of employment, and presents findings with important implications for several current hot-button workplace issues.
Assisting Workers Displaced by Structural Change: An International Perspective

Duane E. Leigh
1995

Leigh begins by providing a summary of the evolution of labor market programs in seven industrialized countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. He points out that a number of these nations are dealing with long-term unemployment by linking unemployment insurance benefits to participation in labor market programs, and that this is a requirement U.S. policy makers should examine closely. Leigh also performs informal cross-country evaluations of these countries' programs,focusing on policies he feels merit attention. A three-level active labor market program is then proposed for the U.S.