bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Satisfaction, Market Wages, & Labor Relations: An Airline Study
Authors: CAPPELLI PETER , SHERER PETER D.
Published: May 2008

We use arguments from economics and industrial relations to help examine aspects of job satisfaction in the context of a changing industrial relations scene. Market comparisons and wage contours provide the strongest predictors of pay satisfaction. Results also suggest that workers in the “B” tier of two‐tier wage plans are in fact more satisfied with pay and that overall, workers are more satisfied with less supervision and more control over their work.
Inflation Uncertainty and Strike Activity
Authors: GRAMM CYNTHIA L. , HENDRICKS WALLACE E. , KAHN LAWRENCE M.
Published: May 2008

In this paper, we hypothesize that the general level of uncertainty can influence the level of strike activity. We test this hypothesis by considering the impact of inflation uncertain & on strike activity. Two databases are used: a pooled time‐series cross‐section sample of individual negotiations over the period 1971–1980, and quarterly data on negotiations from 1954 to 1980. Results from both data sets support the proposition that inflation uncertainty influences strike activity.
Productivity Coalitions and the Future of European Corporatism
Authors: WINDOLF PAUL
Published: May 2008

This paper argues that new technology, the recession, and changing condition in the world market have transformed the ogranization of work and the system of industrial relations in many European countries. Many show a tendency toward decentralized collective bargaining at he firm level. the growing strength of workers' representative at the firm level has weakend the highly centralized bargaining systems (corporatism) which have contributed much to the stability of industrial relations. Case studies, one of west German works councils and one of Italian labormanagement committees, support the argument.
Employment and Local Public Sector Unions
Authors: ZAX JEFFREY S.
Published: May 2008

This study examines the longitudinal effects of unionization on employment levels in 13, 749 departments of city and county government with unchanged union status between 1977 and 1982. The resluts demonstrate that, holding constant 1977 employment per capita, 1982 employment pr capita is 3.1 per cent higher in departments with bargaining units, compared to nonunion department. Employment levels in departments with nonbargaining associations are equal to nonunion levels, but associations may increase employment relative to levels employers would choose because they also set compensation above nonunion levels. The political context of local public sector employment is probably responsible for these effects.
Production Technology and the Interindutry Wage Structure
Authors: HOWELL DAVID R.
Published: May 2008

This paper presents a model in which production technology (scale and capital‐intensity) explains interindustry differences in the earnings of workers with similar skill in similarly attrative jobs. The empirical analysis shows that manufacturing industires fall into three segments with broadly similar production technologies, and that prodcut market and employment characteristics vary as expected across these segments. Capital intensity and job‐skill requirements are found to have positive wage effects for the full set of industries, but the resluts by segment suggest that the capital‐intensity effect increases, and the skill effects decreases, with the capital‐intensity of prodcution.
What Do We Know About Worker Displacement in the U.S.?
Authors: HAMERMESH DANIEL S.
Published: May 2008

Each year during the eighties, plant closings in the U.S. displaced roughly one‐half million workers with three‐plus years on the job. The recent data and empirical research reviewed here show that wage cuts lower only slightly the probability that a plant will close. Average earnings losses due to long spells of unemployment and to subsequent reduced wages are substantial. Minorities suffer an above‐average rate of displacement, but their earnings losses are not unusually high. Women and older workers are no more likely than others to become displaced or to suffer greater earnings losses, but high‐tenure workers lose more.
Trends in Union Organizing Issues and Tactics
Authors: LYNN MONTY L. , BRISTER JOZELL
Published: May 2008

A survey of union organizers (N = 97) was conducted to determine the extent to which new organizing issues and tactics are being used to help offset declining union membership. Results indicate that grievance procedures, job security, improved benefits, and higher pay are the most commonly stressed issues in organizing campaigns. The two tactics used most often are small groups and literature distribution. Organizers working in industries with a larger percentage of female workers differ significantly from other organizers in the use of certain tactics and issues. Overall, however, there does not seem to be much change in either organizing tactics or issues.
Explaining Patterns of Profit‐Sharing Activity
Authors: CHEADLE ALLEN
Published: May 2008

This paper compares the characteristics of firms that adopt deferred profit‐sharing plans with those that adopt pension plans. Tax reports from a sample of 6, 000 firms in various industries are incorporated into logistic regression equations that predict whether these firms will have pension or deferred profit‐sharing plans. The evidence suggests that custom in the labor market may play the greatest role in influencing the choice between the two plans.
Joint Participation Programs: Self‐help or Suicide for Labor?
Authors: VERMA ANIL
Published: May 2008

A model of the effects of worker participation programs on workers' attitudes and behavior toward their union under conditions of union involvement and noninvolvements is developed. It is hypothesized that if the union is a co‐sponsor of such programs, the effects will be largely favorable to union predicted. General support is found for the model using survey data from establishments with union‐sponsored programs.
Deregulation, Business Strategy, and Wages in the Airline Industry
Authors: JOHNSON NANCY BROWN , SAMBHARYA RAKESH B. , BOBKO PHILIP
Published: May 2008

This study assesses empirically the relationship between business strategy and wages within the context of a significant environmental change—deregulation of the airline industry. Regression results provide limited support for the hypotheses that firms' business strategies would lead to systematic differences in average earnings levels of airline carriers, depending on whether or not the industry was regulated, and that these strategies would operate over and above firms' ability to pay higher wages. It appears that business strategies may be linked to their human resource outcomes even in a heavily unionized environment.
Effectiveness of Individual and Aggregate Compensation Strategies
Authors: GOMEZ‐MEJIA LUIS R. , BALKIN DAVID B.
Published: May 2008

Based on a sample of 175 scientists and engineers, this study shows that individual‐based rewards (either in the form of merit pay or individual bonuses) are perceived as less effective than aggregate incentive strategies for R & D workers. The pay effectiveness measures used here include pay satisfaction, propensity to leave, project performance, and individual performance. All things considered, team‐based bonuses are perceived as the most effective rewards in an R & D setting. The findings also indicate that employees with a low willingness to take risks are more likely to experience withdrawal cognition if they work for a firm that relies on variable compensation.
Union Growth in Malaysia and Singapore
Authors: SHARMA BASU
Published: May 2008

This paper examines the determinants of trade union membership growth in Malaysia and Singapore for the period 1965–1983 and finds that the standard Western‐based aggregate model of trade union growth applies to these countries. However, regression results suggest that the model's key variables have differential effects in the two countries.
The Counter‐Revolution of Our Time
Authors: BROWN HENRY PHELPS
Published: May 2008

The Principles of policy predominant in a number of Western countries have moved in recent years from collectivism toward acquisitive individualism. This paper examines the causes, from the standpoint of the United Kingdom. It asks how collectivism originally gained its hold, and why a reaction to it set in. Public opinion and policy was changed by rising standards of living and new patterns of working life. Hence a dissolution of the labor movement.
Union Representation Elelctions and Firm Profitability
Authors: BRONARS STEPHEN G. , DEERE DONALD R.
Published: May 2008

Union representation elections are associated with significant declines in firm profitability. In addition to the significant mean effect of union elections on the equity value of firms, there exists substantial variation in the magnitude of equity losses across individual election events. Cross‐sectional variation in shareholder equity losses can be explained by the labor intensity of the firm, the size of the union wage premium and fraction of workers organized in “the firm's industry,.” the presence or absencse of right‐to‐work lows in the state where the election is held, the member of workers covered in the representaion election, and the number of previous union representation election in the firm. The empirical results indiacte the equity losses are the greatest in industries where union wage gain are the highest and unionization rates are the largest, and in the most labor‐intensive firms, independent of the size of the bargaining unit involved in the election. The latter result indicates the presence of union spillover effects.
South Korea's Record Wage Rates: Labor in Late. Industrialization
Authors: AMSDEN ALICE H.
Published: May 2008

Despite “unlimited labor” and political repression, real average wages in South Korea have risen rapidly, possibly faster than in any previous industrialization—including Japan's—or in any contemporary one. This study suggests that the process of industrializing late though learning, which has been especially intense in Korea, coupled with that country's special institutions, underlie the spectacular wages increases. The analysis also highlights the unique skill‐set of late industrialization that high wages reward.
Methodology in the “Job Quality” Debate
Authors: COSTRELL ROBERT M.
Published: May 2008

This paper critically examines the use of the earnings distribution of net employment gains in the analysis of “new jobs.” The paper explains why this measure of economic performance is not robust and why it can be misleading. Alternative analyses, based on industry and/or accupation, are more robust and may be more informative. Illustrative results show that the new job growth has been concentrated in industries with generally lower wages than the industries where jobs have been lost.
The Role of Arbitration Costs and Risk Aversion in Dispute Outcomes
Authors: FARBER HENRY S. , NEALE MARGARET A. , BAZERMAN MAX H.
Published: May 2008

The effects of risk aversion and of arbitration costs on bargaining outcomes are investigated using data from 171 simulated negotiations. The results are generally consistent with predictions from a simple economic bargaining model. We find strong evidence that directs costs of arbitration lead to higher rates of agreement. There is only weak evidence the risk aversion is related to the probability of agreement, but negotiated settlements seems to favor the less risk‐averse bargainer.
The Determinants of Employee Productivity and Earnings
Authors: HOLZER HARRY J.
Published: May 2008

This paper uses data on employee wages and characteristics drawn from a nationwide sample of firms to re‐examine the determinants of employee productivity and earnings. The results show that previous experience and tenure in the current job have significant, positive effects on wages and productivity. Hours of training are positively related to productivity and wage growth but generally not to levels of either. Lastly, gender effects are evident. Productivity growth and current productivity levels are slightly higher for females while their wages are significantly lower.
Half a Career: Discrimination & Railroad Internal Labor Markets
Authors: SUNDSTROM WILLIAM A.
Published: May 2008

This paper examines the causes and consequences of the racial structure of railroad internal labor markets in the American South. By 1900, many southern railroads hired blacks almost exclusively for middle‐level occupations on their trains but did not permit their promotion to top‐level positions. This institutionalized bias in promotion helps explain the employment of whites and blacks at identical jobs but different wages. It also explains why it was impossible for some southern railroads to adopt the seniority‐based promotion ladders that had become standard on railroads elsewhere in the United States.
New Measures of Union Organizing Effectiveness
Authors: ROSE JOSEPH B. , CHAISON GARY N.
Published: May 2008

This study compares union organizing activity and success in the United States and Canada. Based largely on certification data for the period 1976–1985, he results indicate there was a substantial decline in union organizing effectiveness in the United States and the Canadian unions were more active and successful in recruiting new members than their American counterparts. The evidence suggests that labor policy in Canada is more supportive of union organizing and the achievement of first collective agreements.
Discrimination Against Prounion Job Applicants
Authors: LEAP TERRY L. , HENDRIX WILLIAM H. , CANTRELL R. STEPHEN , TAYLOR G. STEPHEN
Published: May 2008

This study analyzes 95 unfair labor practices involving pre‐employment discrimination against union adherents. The cases were heard either by the National Labor Relations Board or U.S. Court of Appeals between 1976 and 1986. Nonsupervisory, unskilled applicants who suffer preemployment discrimination by employers that display antiunion sentiments during union organizing campaigns have a lower probability of winning their cases than to skilled applicants. Pre‐employment screening of job applications with prounion backgrounds or attitudes is often part of a larger pattern of unfair labor practices by management. The Dotson administration also supported management's rejection of prounion applicants at a significantly higher rate than did other NLRB administrations.
Earnings and Percentage Female: A Longitudinal Study
Authors: GERHART BARRY , CHEIKH NABIL EL
Published: May 2008

Comparable worth advocates assume that the relation between earnings and percentage female in an occupation is due to crowding or other forms of discrimination. An alternative explanation is that the relation stems from women freely choosing different occupations. Using longitudinal data to control for time‐invariant omitted variables, as well as cross‐sectional data (for comparison with previous research), we find that although men's estimated penalty is not reduced, the percentage female penalty falls substantially for women and is not statistically significant. These results imply that estimates of the percentage female effect based on cross‐sectional data may be inflated for women–except for those with intermittent labor force participation. This group does experience a sizeable penalty for working in female‐dominated occupations. Hence, a comparable worth policy would most likely benefit women with discontinuous employment.
Does Pension Wealth Peak at the Age of Early Retirement?
Authors: PESANDO JAMES E. , GUNDERSON MORLEY
Published: May 2008

Once an employee has qualified for early retirement, continuing to work involves an implicit tax in the form of forgone pension payments. We explore this implicit pension tax in a Canadian setting and find that, contrary to Lazear (1983), but consistent with most U.S. studies, pension wealth generally does not peak at the date of first eligibility for early retirement. We highlight the importance of the earnings path posited for older workers, anticipated enrichments to flat benefit formulas, and the distinction between reduced and unreduced early retirement as determinants of this result.
The Reserve Army Effect, Unions, and Nominal Wage Growth
Authors: TSURU TSUYOSHI
Published: May 2008

This paper analyzes the reserve army effect from a perspective which integrates propositions from the social structures of accumulation and regulation approaches. The magnitude of the reserve army effect on nominal wage growth ought to vary according to the subperiods 1958–1970, 1970–1980, and 1980–1987, and also according to subsectors with different unionization rates. This hypothesis is tested empirically by estimating the effect of demand pressure variables on nominal wage growth for heavily, moderately, and lightly unionized sectors. The results generally confirm the hypothesis, while at the same time showing clear differences in the impact of collective bargaining on the reserve army effect between 1958–1970 and 1980–1987.
Race, Ethnicity, Union Attitudes, and Voting Predilections
Authors: SILVERBLATT RONNIE , AMANN ROBERT I.
Published: May 2008

The research reported here investigates, in a sample of approximately 500 persons, the relationship between individuals' race and/or ethnicity and their union‐related attitudes and union vote propensity. As measured by scores on union instrumentality, big labor image, and union governance questions, blacks have the most favorable attitudes toward unions, Hispanics the least favorable. Logistic multiple regression results indicate no difference in union‐joining propensity attributable to ethnicity, although several other variables are found to be significantly related to joining predilections.
Students as Arbitrators: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: OSWALD SHARON L.
Published: May 2008

No previous work has examined whether students are appropriate substitutes for arbitrators in research studies, despite the fact that students have been used in at least one experimental study of arbitral decisions. This study compares the decisions rendered by 233 students and 146 practicing arbitrators on two hypothetical discharge cases and finds that there are significant differences between decisions of arbitrators and students.
Is Reinstatement a Remedy Suitable to At‐ Will Employees?
Authors: TRUDEAU GILLES
Published: May 2008

Reinstatement is central to many proposals of statuto y reform providing protection against wrongful dismissal for at‐will employees. This paper discusses the results of an empirical study of the post‐reinstatement experience of such rehired employees in Quebec. The Canadian experience demonstrates both the signijicant drawbacks to and the unique merits of reinstatement as a form of protection for nonunion employees.
Information Sharing of Sensitive Business Data with Employees
Authors: KLEINER MORRIS M. , BOUILLON MARVIN L.
Published: May 2008

This study reexamines the determinants and consequences of publicly traded manufacturing firms sharing sensitive business data with their producation employees. Using more detailed information sharing variables, we find that providing a variety of types of information is associated with higher compensation, that firms are less likely to share relatively more senistive information with employees, and that sharing future market strategies is negatively related to various measures of firm profitability. The implications for firm and public policies are also discussed.
Economic Implications of Public‐Sector Comparable Worth: The Case of San Jose, California
Authors: KAHN SHULAMIT
Published: May 2008

This study evaluates the wage and employment effects of comparable worth in San Jose, California, one of the first cities in the United States to implement comparable worth wage adjustments. The empirical evidence indicates that, contrary to the predictions of many economists, females posted large employment gains in jobs targeted by comparable worth adjustments. Male employment in these jobs was stagnant. The increasing percentage female in the targeted jobs is attributable to the combined effects of comparable worth and pro‐female hiring policies. No overall decrease in employment appears to have occurred in the city of San Jose, nor is there any indication of substitution from targeted to nontargeted jobs.
The Effect of Interest Arbitration on Salary Dispersion Among Employers
Authors: JARLEY PAUL
Published: May 2008

This study uses Wisconsin teacher salary grid data for the period 1974–75 to 1984–85 to examine the impact of interest arbitration on wage determination and salary dispersion among employers. Models of wage determination are developed and estimated using observations from a period before and after implementation of arbitration. These wage equations are then used to decompose the difference in the variance of the log wages for the two periods. The results suggest that although observed salary dispersion is greater at the statewide level under arbitration, the imposition of arbitration mitigates the impact of measured factors on wage determination, resulting in less salary dispersion within small clusters of school districts, all else constant.
Strategies and Tactics in Union Organizing Campaigns
Authors: PETERSON RICHARD B. , LEE THOMAS W. , FINNEGAN BARBARA
Published: May 2008

This study assesses the effects of employer and union organizing tactics on union election wins versus losses, the percentage of votes, and the time between election and first contract signing. The data were obtained from the organizing staff of a large international union. The results showed that some tactics resulted in expected election outcomes, but others resulted in unexpected outcomes.
The Relative Effects of Unionism on the Earnings Distributions of Women and Men
Authors: FLAHERTY SEAN , CANIGLIA ALAN
Published: May 2008

This study examines the differential effects of union density on the degree of earnings inequality among women and among men. Our results suggest an equalizing impact of union density for all men and for both men and women who work year‐round and full time. Union density does not appear to equalize and may even contribute to a disequalization of the earnings distribution for all women.
Discrimination at the Top: American‐Born Asian and White Men
Authors: DULEEP HARRIET ORCUTT , SANDERS SETH
Published: May 2008

Asians are perceived as doing very well, and, indeed, the average earnings of several Asian groups exceed those of whites. However, although entering well‐paying positions, Asians may be prevented from further advancement by an invisible “glass ceiling.” Using microdata from the 1980 census to examine the economic status of American‐born men in five Asian groups, we find that the average Asian man earns as much as non‐Hispanic white men, but, adjusting for occupation and industry, highly educated Asian men in all five groups earn less than their white counterparts.
Reasons for Hiring Part‐Time Workers
Authors: ZEYTINOGLU ISIK URLA
Published: May 2008

Based on a survey of organizations that have collective agreements covering part‐time workers, this study reveals that flexibility in scheduling work and employees' preference for part‐time work are the two most important reasons for hiring part‐time workers in unionized organizations. Unlike most of the literature on part‐time work and workers, this study's results suggest that savings in wages and benefits are of minor importance in hiring part‐time workers covered by collective agreements.
Race Discrimination and Union Voice
Authors: HEYWOOD JOHN S.
Published: May 2008

This work reports patterns of complaints about racial discrimination that appear consistent with the social mechanism of “voice.” Black union members are subject to less racial discrimination but are no less likely to identify themselves as victims of discrimination than black nonunion members. Indeed, black women members are more likely to claim discrimination than their nonunion counterparts. White union members are much more likely to identify themselves as victims of discrimination than non‐members even controlling for the erosion of typical racial wage differentials. These findings remain robust across a variety of specifications and suggest that there is something unique about the union setting that encourages complaints.
Occupational Disease and Career Trajectory in Hard Coal, 1870–1930
Authors: DERICKSON ALAN
Published: May 2008

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, workers in the anthracite industry commonly followed career paths that led to respiratory impairment. In turn, work‐induced pulmonary difficulties explain much of the downward mobility of older miners in this period. Managerial practice both accommodated and exacerbated disability. The United Mine Workers of America dealt with this problem primarily through agitation for legislative reform.
The Impact of Union Wage Concessions on Union Premiums
Authors: HAGGERTY MARK E. , LEIGH DUANE E.
Published: May 2008

Previous research showing that union wage premiums actually rose from the late 1970s to the mid‐1980s suggests that concession bargaining was more media hype than the result of a fundamental change in collective bargaining. Our study found that nonrandom attrition of workers from the union sector does lead to an upward bias in the measured growth of union premiums, but concession bargaining was not a sufficiently widespread occurrence to reduce the size of union premiums during the sample period.
Can We Identify Union Productivity Effects?
Authors: ADDISON JOHN T. , CHILTON JOHN B.
Published: May 2008

Contrary to recent criticism, the standard production function test can, in principle, reveal whether or not unionized workers or firms are more productive than their nonunion counterparts. In the long run, however, the forces of competition foreordain the result.
The Gender Recomposition of the Maquiladora Workforce in Cuidad Juhrez
Authors: CATANZARITE LISA M. , STROBER MYRA H.
Published: May 2008

This paper investigates the dynamics of gender segregation by analyzing data on the increase in men's share of assembly jobs in the Ciudad Juérez maquila industry. Gender recomposition of maquila production was a result of changes in the Mexican economy; which produced a marked increase in the demand for labor and an increase in the “relative attractiveness” (but not necessarily the absolute attractiveness) of maquiladora jobs to men.
Job Attributes and Federal Wage Differentials
Authors: BELMAN DALE , HEYWOOD JOHN S.
Published: May 2008

As part of the debate on how to treat attributes of a job (as opposed to a worker) when measuring federal differentials, the focus has been on the proper treatment of employer size. Using employer size, we highlight the two extremes in the literature of either holding job attributes constant or of assuming attributes do not transfer between sectors. A third alternative‐estimating the extent to which the attribute will transfer‐is much closer in value to that generated by holding employer size constant.
Securing a Union Contract: Impact of the Union Organizer
Authors: REED THOMAS F.
Published: May 2008

Unions fail to secure a first contract after winning a representation election in approximately one out of four campaigns. This paper extends the limited research on first‐contract determinants by developing and testing a model that incorporates the role of the union organizer. Although union organizers typically do not negotiate first contracts, the empirical results suggest that the organizer's personality and actions during a campaign are important determinants of first contracts.
Black Female Clerical Workers: Movement toward Equality with White Women?
Authors: POWER MARILYN , ROSENBERG SAM
Published: May 2008

This article examines the occupational mobility patterns of black and white female clerical workers from 1972 to 1980. Black women were initially concentrated in the lower‐paying clerical positions and were less likely than white women to leave for better jobs in other areas. Those black women who had relatively good clerical jobs tended not to rise any further and even experienced some difficulty in maintaining their occupational status. Education and training aided occupational mobility less for black women than for white women.
Convergence or Divergence in Final‐Offer Arbitration in Professional Baseball
Authors: COLEMAN B. JAY , JENNINGS KENNETH M. , MCLAUGHLIN FRANK S.
Published: May 2008

Many labor relations practitioners and theorists believe that final‐offer arbitration by a neutral third party encourages union and management officials to resolve their bargaining differences. However, decision scientists have found that there is no median convergence between the parties. Using professional baseball in our model, we test the assumption that major league owners tend to maximize expected monetary value (EMV), finding that claims of divergence are invalidated in dispute management contexts where there is a broad range of other motivations for settling. Decision models offer even further support for the use of final‐offer arbitration in such settings.
Leadership and Its Consequences: Technical Change in the Longshore Industry
Authors: WATERS ROBERT C.
Published: May 2008

The leadership of the two U.S. longshore unions used different strategies when faced with technical change during the period 1959–89. One union used its market power to maintain membership and increase wages and benefits; the other concentrated on wages, benefits, and adjustment mechanisms. The first strategy was economically superior in the short run, but led to reduced wages and employment in the long run.
Industrial Relations in Western Europe: An Era of Ambiguity?
Authors: HYMAN RICHARD
Published: May 2008

In western Europe, as in the United States, the 1980s saw major challenges to established institutions of industrial relations. Managements, faced with intensified competitive pressure, have taken the initiative; union have been on the defensive. Deregulation and decentralization have been the recurrent themes of both practitioners and academic analysts. For some commentators, national distinctiveness is giving way to convergence, encouraged in part by moves toward the Single European Market. This article develops a more skeptical perspective on recent trends.
Assessing the Time‐Squeeze Hypothesis: Hours Worked in the United States, 1969–89
Authors: LEETE LAURA , SCHOR JULIET B.
Published: May 2008

This study assesses the hypothesis that hours of work have risen in the United States in recent decades. Using the Current Population Surveys and the University of Michigan Time‐Use Studies, we estimate changes in market and nonmarket hours worked between 1969 and 1989, finding evidence of a “time‐squeeze.” This trend is particularly pronounced among labor force participants who are neither under‐ nor unemployed. For this group, total annual hours of work have risen by 149.
Hierarchical Careers
Authors: SIOW ALOYSIUS
Published: May 2008

A model of hierarchical careers that integrates the career concerns of workers and the production concerns of firms is presented. The model generates standard supply side age earnings profiles. It also explains intermittent career events such as promotions, quits, layoffs, lateral mobility, and early retirement. The model is also able to explain several labor market institutions such as fast track jobs, up or out rules, internal labor markets, primary and secondary jobs, and insider/outsider labor markets.
Trade Union Influence on Human Resource Management Practices
Authors: NG IGNACE , MAKI DENNIS
Published: May 2008

This paper examines the influence of unions on 37 human resource management practices, ranging from hiring policies to promotion practices. The logistic regression results show that unionization is positively associated with a more formal approach to human resource management. There is, however, a shift from performance‐based payment systems and performance appraisal (P.A.) functions in unionized settings. The results also indicate that union firms are more selective of new hires by adopting a formal probationary period for new employees. Last, the estimates suggest that the impact of unions on training programs varies with the nature of the programs.
The Impact of Post‐School Joblessness on Male Black‐White Wage Differentials
Authors: D'AMICO RONALD , MAXWELL NAN L.
Published: May 2008

This study examines the employment undercurrents of the divergence in black‐white wages for young males in the 1980s. By integrating school‐to‐work transition literature with black‐white research on earnings differences, we establish a framework for linking employment during the school‐to‐work transition and subsequent wage differentials. We empirically confirm this link using the youth cohort of the National Longitudinal Surveys. Results suggest that the higher rates of joblessness among a subset of black youth directly translate into lower earnings for blacks and produce black‐white wage divergence. Young black males with extremely high levels of joblessness during the school‐to‐work period face the greatest reduction in relative wages.
Compensation Structure and Establishment Quit and Fire Rates
Authors: POWELL IRENE , MONTGOMERY MARK , COSGROVE JAMES
Published: May 2008

Despite the claims of efficiency wage theory, there is surprisingly little direct evidence that firms that pay higher wages have lower turnover rates than otherwise similar firms. This study uses data on 205 child care establishments to examine the influence of wages, fringe benefits, and the dispersion of wages within a skill class on establishment quit and fire rates. We separately examine one high‐skill group (teachers) and one lowskill group (teacher aides). While we find that wages (alone) significantly reduce establishment quit and fire rates, the effect seems too small to be consistent with the efficiency wage hypothesis.
Compensating Wage Differentials versus Efficiency Wages: An Empirical Study of Job Autonomy and Wages
Authors: ARAI MAHMOOD
Published: May 2008

Efficiency wage theory as incorporated in the shirking model predicts that firms may substitute wage premiums for costly monitoring. This means that wage premiums should be expected for loosely monitored workers. By regarding extensive monitoring as a lack of job autonomy, efficiency wage theory predicts a positive relation between autonomy and wages. The theory of compensating wage differentials, however, predicts a negative relation between autonomy and wages. When workers prefer autonomous jobs, employers have to offer higher wages for less autonomous jobs in order to recruit labor.

Swedish micro data are analyzed in order to examine the predictions of these theories. A proxy for the monitoring problem of the firm measures workers' possibilities of effort variation. Since this proxy is autonomy, it enables us to test the two rival hypotheses on the relation between job autonomy and wages. We find a positive relation in the private sector as predicted by the efficiency wage hypotheses and a negative relation in the case of the public sector, which accords with the theory of compensating wage differentials.
The Effect of Mentorship and Sex‐Role Style on Male‐Female Earnings
Authors: JOHNSON NANCY BROWN , SCANDURA TERRI A.
Published: May 2008

The women in management literature contend that mentorship and sex‐role style affect women's career success and ultimately earnings. We use data from the public accounting profession (N = 833) and a human capital wage decomposition model to examine the effect of mentorship and sex‐role style on male‐female wages and wage differentials. The results suggest that career mentorship modestly increases only women's earnings. However, sex‐role style was found to significantly interact with gender to affect earnings and earnings differentials.
The Effectiveness of OSHA Penalties: A Stock‐Market‐Based Test
Authors: III WALLACE N. DAVIDSON , WORRELL DAN , CHENG LOUIS T. W.
Published: May 2008

This study examines shareholder reactions to the announcements of OSHA penalties in the press over the years 1979‐89. The analysis demonstrates that investors react negatively to the announced sanctions over the time interval immediately surrounding the announcement day. The decreases in the values of the subject firms are, however, found to be unrelated to the relative size of the penalty, to the number of non‐record‐keeping violations, and to whether the penalties were attributable to employee injury or death. The findings suggest that for the stockholders the nature of the announced OSHA sanctions is largely irrelevant, and they further point toward a reassessment of the assumed deterrent impact of the penalities.
The Impact of Union Political Activities on Public‐Sector Pay, Employment, and Budgets
Authors: O'BRIEN KEVIN M.
Published: May 2008

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the political power of public employee unions has been a major cause of excessive growth in municipal expenditures. Previous studies, however, have not directly measured union political activities but instead have used some type of unionization or collective bargaining proxy. This paper uses unpublished data from the International City Management Association (ICMA) to develop a more direct measure of police and fire union political activity. It is found that increased union political activity leads to greater department expenditures but not necessarily to greater municipal expenditures or revenues. The results also suggest that unions increase department spending through political activity and not through the collective bargaining process itself. Further, it appears that political activity increases department spending through higher employment and not through higher compensation.
Accounting for the Causes and Consequences of Industrial Employment Shift
Authors: COSTRELL ROBERT M.
Published: May 2008

This paper analyzes the 1981‐87 employment shifts away from high‐wage industries, using a shift‐share framework, coupled with a two‐sector general equilibrium model. I find that (1) the shift‐share drag on average pay growth was unprecedented in the postwar period, on the order of 1/4‐1/3 percent per year, for hourly compensation; and (2) output shifts, including the trade deficit, were a more important cause of the employment shifts than were rapid productivity growth in manufacturing and other contracting industries. As a result, the shift‐share drag on average pay growth should be interpreted primarily as coming out of aggregate productivity growth, rather than as a redistributional phenomenon.
Toward Explaining the Growth of Defined Contribution Plans
Authors: IPPOLITO RICHARD A.
Published: May 2008

Since 1980, defined benefit plans have steadily lost market share to defined contribution plans. In 1979, defined contribution plans had 17 percent of the primary pension market. By 1988, it was 34 percent. About half of the shift is attributable to a loss of employment in large unionized firms where defined benefit plans are used intensively. But evidence of large changes in preferences is also found in the data. One likely explanation is the introduction of a new variety of defined contribution plans, so‐called 401(k)s. These pension plans have productivity traits that make them more effective competition for defined benefit plans.
Education Policy and Teacher Effort
Authors: BALLOU DALE , PODGURSKY MICHAEL
Published: May 2008

The authors analyze the effect of school, student, and teacher characteristics on teacher effort, as measured by homework frequency and time put in at home. Although teacher autonomy and “professionalism” have little effect on effort, teachers' academic backgrounds matter. Teachers who are assigned higher‐achieving students also put in more effort, a response to student ability as well as a consequence of staffing such classes with harder‐working instructors.
Job Safety and Contract Workers in the Petrochemical Industry
Authors: REBITZER JAMES B.
Published: May 2008

The legal rules for assigning liability for the costs of accidents penalize petrochemical plants that exercise direct control over contract employees. Evidence from diverse sources indicates that these liability rules lead plant management to give primary responsibility for the safety training and supervision of contract employees to contractors. However, analysis of the determinants of accidents suggests that host plants offer more effective safety training and supervision than do contractors. It follows that accident rates in the petrochemical industry would be reduced if liability rules were altered so that host plants had greater incentives to take primary responsibility for the safety training and supervision of contract workers.
The Impact of Workers' Compensation Experience Rating on Employer Appeals Activity
Authors: HYATT DOUGLAS E. , KRALJ BORIS
Published: May 2008

Workers' compensation experience rating is presumed to create a financial incentive for employers to make investments that are expected to reduce the incidence and severity of work place injuries. However, the impact of experience rating may be more comprehensive, encouraging firms to take otehr actions that can reduce their workers' compensation costs. One of these actions that has raised concern is employer appeals of worker's compensation board decisions. Based on data from Ontario, we find strong evidence that, although the total volume of employer appeals is not large, experience‐rated employers are more likely to appeal than are non‐experience‐rated employers. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to examine the relationship between experience rating and employer appeals; a gap in the literature is noted by Ehrenberg (1988).
U.S. Foreign Production and Unions
Authors: KARIER THOMAS
Published: May 2008

Based on analysis of industry by region data the author finds little evidence that U.S. unions have been a significant factor in the decision of U.S. firms to produce abroad. In effect, the composition of U.S. foreign production does not appear to be drawn from U.S. industries with especially high domestic unionization. Corresponding with previous research, the research do indicate that monopoly power, foreign tariffs and barriers, and the size and distance of foreign markets and important determinants of U.S. foreign production.
Selected by the Institute of Industrial Relations Library University of California at berkely
Authors: HUWE TERENCE K. , KIMBALL JANICE
Published: May 2008

Cold war in the working class: the rise and decline of the United Electrical workers. By Ronald L. Filippelli and Mark D. McColloch.

Common Sense for Uncommon Times: The Power of Balance in Work, Family, and Personal Life. By Mark S. Guterman.

From Downsizing to Recovery: Strategic Use of the Outplacement Option. By Richard Knowdell, Elizabeth Branstead, and Milan Moravec.

Heroes of Unwritten Story: The UAW, 1934–39. By Henry Fruas.

Internal Company Investigations and the Employment Relationship. By Warren Freedman.

Labor Economics and Industrial Relations: Markets and Institutions. Edited by Clark Kerr and Paul D. Staudohar.

New Frontiers in European Industrial Relations. Edited by Anthony Ferner and Richard Hyman.

The New Left and Labor in the 1960s. By Peter B. Levy.

Roberts' Dictionary of Industrial Relations. Prepared by the Industrial Relations Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Joyce M. Najita, Director.

Studies in Labour Economics. Edited by Erkin I. Bairam.

Waterfront Workers of New Orleans: Race, Class, and Politicsl 1863–1993. By Eric Arnesen.
Pension Substitution in the 1980s: Why the Shift toward Defined Contribution?
Authors: KRUSE DOUGLAS L.
Published: May 2008

The relative decline of defined benefit (DB) pension plans, and growth of defined contribution (DC) plans, has been often noted but not extensively explored. This paper reports on the construction of a new longitudinal company‐based data set on pension plans for the years 1980‐86 (including all U.S. companies with large plans, and a 10 percent sample of companies with small plans, at any point during this period). The decline in DB coverage is primarily due to fewer participants in companies maintaining such plans, while very little of the growth in DC coverage is due to companies terminating DB plans. Also, multinomial logit analysis of manufacturing company choices indicates that the higher administrative costs of DB plans lead new adopters to favor DC plans, but this explains little of the tremendous growth in DC plans. In addition, higher industry variability and capital intensity, and smaller company size, lead new adopters to favor DC plans.
A Strategy for Labor
Authors: ROGERS JOEL
Published: May 2008

Labor's decline is advanced, disastrous for democracy, and unlikely to be relieved by labor law reform at the national level. Unions need a strategy for revival that does not premise such relief, and that takes account of the deeper changes in social and economic organization that have undermined their strength. Such a strategy is available, but it requires a sharp break with the uncoordinated, firm‐centered, and politically non‐independent “service model” unionism, exclusively preoccupied with units where majority status has been achieved, still generally practiced today.
Labor Law Reform: One Step Forward and Two Steps Back
Authors: WACHTER MICHAEL L.
Published: May 2008

This article deals with the question of whether the reforms proposed by the labor law traditionalists are desirable on economic grounds, and if not, what types of reform might be offered. The specific proposals include increased job security, increased employee participation in decision making, and reform of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The difficulty for reformers is that they have not yet accepted the challenge of designing proposals for today's more competitive labor and product markets. Until this changes, reform efforts can be shown to be backward steps.
Labor Law, Economics, and Industrial Democracy: A Reconciliation.
Authors: BLOCK RICHARD N.
Published: May 2008

This article analyzes the competing economic and industrial democracy/ voice views of unionism. It points out that the economic arguments vis‐àvis unionism and the costs of union rent seeking depend on competitive markets. If markets vary in their competitive characteristics, however, and employers also have an incentive to rent‐seek, then decentralized, NLRA‐type unionism with minimal government interference in establishing bargaining outcomes may serve to restore competitive wages. The article concludes by evaluating some proposals to amend the NLRA in the context of this “symmetry of motives” framework.
Selected by the Institute of Industrial Relations Library University of California at Berkeley
Authors: HUWE TERENCE K. , KIMBALL JANICE
Published: May 2008

The CZO, 1935–1955. By Robert H. Zieger.

Cold War in the Working Class: The Rise and Decline of the United Electrical Workers. By Ronald L. Filippelli and Mark D. McColloch.

Common Sense and a Little Fire: Women and Working‐class Politics in the United States, 1900–1965. By Annelise Orleck

Dark Sweat, White Gold: California Farm Workers, Cotton, and the New Deal. By Devra Weber

Employment Contracts: New Zealand Experiences. Edited by Raymond Harbridge.

Goodyear Invades the Backcountry: The Corporate Takeover of a Rural Town. By Bryan D. Palmer

Militancy, Market Dynamics, and Workplace Authority: The Struggle over Labor Process Outcomes in the US. Automobile Industry, 1946 to 1973. By James R. Zetka, Jr.

A Mouthful of Rivets: Women at Work in World War II. By Nancy Baker Wise and Christy Wise

Multinationals and Employment: The Global Economy of the 1990s. Edited by Paul Bailey, Aurelio Parisotto and Geoffrey Renshaw.

On Different Planes: An Organizational Analysis of Cooperation and Conflict Among Airline Unions. By David J. Walsh.

The Struggle for the Breeches: Gender and the Making of the British Working Class. By Anna Clark

Trade Unionists Against Terror: Guatemala City, 1954–1985. By Deborah Levenson‐Estrada.

Training for Employment in Western Europe and the United States. By J. R. Shackleton.

Women in Trade Unions: Organizing the Unorganized. Edited by Margaret Hosmer Martens and Swasti Mitter.

The Work of Strangers: A Survey of International Labour Migration. By Peter Stalker.

Workplace Industrial Relations and the Global Challenge. Edited by Jacques Belanger, P. K. Edwards, and Larry Haiven.