U.S. Labor Market

Covering the development of the American labor market from 1880 to 1946 Korver's volume stresses relations of authority (versus power) in employment. Deemphasizing concepts of market and contract, it focuses on employer/employee and demonstrates the inadequacy of conventional economic discourse on labor market analysis. Stressing the importance of unskilled labor--an oft forgotten category--Korver demonstrates that new immigration coupled unskilled labor with the novel option of citizenship and made it part of the "emerging world of mass production."

The Department of Labor seized the opportunity provided by the chaotic labor market conditions during World War I to expand the US Employment Service (USES) and to establish control of the national labor market. That attempt provoked a reaction on the part of states that had created their own employment services and were suspicious of the administrative capacity of the USES. A prolonged administrative and political struggle ensued, involving not only the Department of Labor and the states but a number of government departments and agencies and the major interest groups involved in the labor market. William J. Breen's Labor Market Politics and the Great War is the first detailed study of the way in which federalism influenced the development of government labor market policy in the early twentieth century.

Will technological improvement and growth in the rest of the world cause a decline in American living standards? Can government policy in Japan and Western Europe limit the availability of high- wage jobs in America? Does expanding trade with Mexico and other developing countries with large numbers of inexpensive workers imply a continuing decline in wages for low-skilled American workers? These questions express a widespread concern about potential negative effects of import competition on domestic labor markets, but ignore potential gains to U.S. workers from exports abroad. Through U.S. exports, the rest of the world is an increasingly large indirect employer of U.S. workers, and through imports, foreign labor is an increasingly important potential substitute for U.S. workers. Bringing together the often diverse perspectives of international economists, labor economists, and policymakers, this volume analyzes how international trade affects the level and distribution of wages and employment inthe United,States, examines the need for government intervention, and evaluates policy options. In addition to the editor, the contributors are Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University and American Enterprise Institute; J. Bradford De Long, U.S. Department of the Treasury and University of California, Berkeley; I. M. Destler, University of Maryland and Institute for International Economics; Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University and London School of Economics; Louis Jacobson, WESTAT; Lori G. Kletzer, University of California, Santa Cruz; Edward Leamer, University of California, Los Angeles; Michael Piore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ana Revenga and Claudio Montenegro, The World Bank; Jeffrey D. Sachs and Howard Shatz, Harvard University.

An international group of researchers here explores the impacts of structural economic change and technological progress on labor markets. The contributors goal is to present an in-depth comparative study of the ways in which different national economies have adjusted to structural changes like the shift to service-based economies and technological changes brought about by the increasing use of the computer in offices and on the production line. To this end, they analyze the flexibility potentials within the different institutional organizations of the labor market in the U.S., France, West Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden.

This study develops a framework for the analysis of labor market dynamics based upon a new dynamic flow analysis instead of the conventional labor stock data. To identify the dynamic elements in the labor market, information on flows is needed. Flow data that have become available in recent years--in this case on the United States and Germany--show that an enormous amount of labor market mobility is occurring every month. Schettkat analyzes two of the world's most dynamic economies and labor markets--showing that the unemployed are far from being a fixed bloc but are rather a changing population responding greatly to structural alterations.

Presents, every two years, the most comprehensive picture available of what is really going on in the U.S. economy, who has gained from it, & why it is happening.

Wage setting has historically been a deeply political, cultural and economic process. This study condemns the political economists who ensure that many workers never receive a decent living wage, be they women or members of minority groups.

This interdisciplinary work presents the results of a comprehensive study of the causes and consequences of the rise in family income inequality during the period between 1947 and 1985. By examining the impact of changing industrial and occupational employment, population age structure, household structure, female labor force participation, and government spending on income inequality, the book systematically estimates and compares the influences on the inequality upturn. Strong evidence is presented which argues that the predominant influence on increasing income inequality is the changing economy, which has resulted in increased income at the top of the distribution and reduced income at the bottom.

Turbulence--rapid and sometimes tumultuous changes--has characterized the labor markets of the 1970's and 1980's. Turbulent competitive conditions have cut sharply into profits and have forced downsizings and radical readjustments in America's workplaces. Workplace turbulence has resulted in lost jobs, declining incomes, and falling productivity for American labor. From the perspectives of business and labor, turbulence and its consequences is the key human resources issue for the last part of the twentieth century. In Turbulence in the American Workplace, a distinguished group of experts forcefully and convincingly argue that the human resources capacity of the private sector is the first line of defense against turbulence and is of equal importance to public sector education and training programs. The authors--including Kathleen Christensen, Patricia M. Flynn, Douglas T. Hall, Harry C. Katz, Jeffrey H. Keefe, Christopher J. Ruhm, Andrew M. Sum, and Michael Useem--effectively demonstrate how global competition, deregulation, and technological change are creating hard choices for employers that will alter both the living standards of workers and the performance of American industry in the coming decades. This illuminating work will be of significant value to business school faculty, corporate strategic planners, and general managers, as well as students and professionals interested in the areas of public policy, industrial relations, education, and labor studies.

The authors call for new, decentralized institutions suited to a dynamic economy in which change is constant and rapid. In particular, they see a need for job ladders and worker associations that cut across firm boundaries. These institutions would foster individual and collective learning, mark out career paths, and facilitate coordination among both individuals and organizations in a networked economy. The authors propose new rules to reshape labor market institutions and policy, improving economic performance and opportunities for workers. Unusual in providing a comprehensive theoretical perspective that is grounded in detailed case research, this book points the way to a better future, not just for elite knowledge workers but for everyone.

The United States labor force is examined in detail in this comprehensive study. The history and current makeup of the labor force is revealed and issues and trends are investigated. The book begins with a discussion of the development of the workforce, the impact of immigration, the rise of nontraditional work arrangements, the underground economy, and demographics. Education is examined in part two. Career choices, unions, wage determination, women and minority issues, and unemployment are considered in later chapters. It concludes with a look at the government's role in the workforce, including welfare, social insurance, and health care and shows how these programs impact both employer and worker behavior. This book is a great resource for executives, human resource professionals, researchers, policy makers, and students.

Most macroeconomic theory has focused on goods and money rather than on labour, but this book goes someway to redressing this balance. It examines a wide range of labour-market issues from the perspective of modern macroeconomics.

A major force in American society, the work ethic has played a pivotal role in U.S. history, affecting cultural, social, and economic institutions. But what is the American work ethic? Not only has it changed from one era to another, but it varies with race, gender, and occupation. Considering such diverse groups as Colonial craftsmen, slaves, 19th century women, and 20th century factory workers, this book provides a history of the American work ethic from Colonial times to the present. Tracing both continuities and differences, the book is divided into sections on the Colonial era, the 19th century and the 20th century and includes chapters on both major occupational groups, such as farmers, factory workers, laborers, and gender, racial, and ethnic minorities.