Reservation Wages and the Unemployment of Older Workers

Our purpose is to examine the level of reservation wages among older unemployed (45+), and investigate what happens to the level of reservation wages as the length of unemployment increases. Using data from questionnaires completed by unemployed, we examined the reservation wages of 364 individuals and asked whether they would be willing to compromise in terms of their occupation, profession or geographic location to find a job. 112 of the participants responded to two questionnaires over a three-month period to determine the changes in their expectations over time. Additionally, we conducted qualitative interviews with 10 unemployed. We found that older people experienced longer periods of unemployment, and had a greater willingness to reduce salary expectations. The study establishes an innovative connection between older unemployed, reservation wages and the duration of unemployment, showing that higher reservation wages among older unemployed is the cause of prolonging their unemployment.     

Immigration and the Wages of Native Workers: Spatial versus Occupational Approaches

Using data from the Current Population Survey, we study the impact of the increasing proportion of immigrants on the wages of native workers. Two different approaches are contrasted. The most common method has been the spatial approach that uses some geographic unit of analysis to investigate the multivariate association between the proportion of immigrants and the wages of native workers. Previous studies using the spatial approach have generally found little evidence of a significant negative effect. We propose, however, a contrasting method that represents an occupational approach in which occupations are the unit of analysis to investigate the impact of the proportion immigrant. This occupational approach avoids the bias that is inherent in the spatial approach due to the endogenous nature of immigrants' decisions about where to reside and the economic opportunities of local areas. In contrast to the spatial approach, our results using the same data but employing the occupational approach yield consistently negative net effects of the proportion immigrant on the wages of native workers during the period from 1994 to 2006.     

青年农民工就业特征

本文结合经济学、社会学等领域的研究方法及成果,以城乡分割体制下的青年特性及失业理论研究为基础,以青年农民工兼具青年和农民工的双重身份为切入点,剖析了青年农民工面临的就业现状,识别出青年农民工相对于城市青年的就业共性和特性,深入探求其产生的理论成因,并据此提出政策建议。     

新生代农民工就业质量的区域差异

新生代农民工是我国经济社会发展的砥柱力量.按照欧洲基金会个体视角的四维度就业质量评价指标体系的基础性框架,从职业和工作安全、健康与福利、职业和技能发展、工作和生活和谐、就业满意度五个方面展开分析.我国东、中、西部地区新生代农民工就业质量存在显著差异,东部地区就业质量最高,西部地区次之,中部地区最低;职业和工作安全由高到低依次是东部地区、西部地区和中部地区;东、中、西部地区新生代农民工的就业健康无明显差异,东部地区福利保障较中、西部地区更为完善;西部地区农民工职业和技能发展优于东部地区,中部地区最低;东部地区新生代农民工的工作和生活和谐程度高于中、西部地区;就业满意度表现为自东部向西部递减.     

The Use of Common Humanity Scenarios to Promote Compassion in Healthcare Workers

ABSTRACT

The importance of compassion in healthcare is universally acknowledged. However, the factors that enhance compassion are not well understood. The perception of common humanity has been proposed as a prosocial perspective that leads to unbiased universal compassion. There has been a lack of research into the relationship between common humanity and compassion. This study examined the use of common humanity scenarios to promote compassion in healthcare workers. Seventy-five healthcare workers were randomly assigned to two groups and shown a different common humanity scenario. The healthcare workers were asked what effect viewing the videos had on their perception of common humanity and compassion. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes. Four main themes emerged: (a) common bonds; (b) people have the same needs; (c) no one wants to suffer; (d) seeing strangers helping others is motivating. Healthcare workers reported feelings of care, concern, and compassion after viewing common humanity scenarios.

IMPLICATIONS

• Viewing common humanity scenarios appears to lead to enhanced feelings of connection to others and compassion in healthcare workers.

• Using common humanity scenarios may be a useful compassion training strategy in healthcare.

• Further research is necessary to gain a better understanding of how viewing common humanity material influences compassion.

     

新生代农民工就业质量分析及对策

就业质量提升是破解新生代农民工市民化困境以及推进新型城镇化发展的关键。对深圳地区新生代农民工就业质量进行实证调查发现,新生代农民工就业存在职业流动频繁、工作时间超时、收入水平偏低、上下级关系偏紧等问题。为提高新生代农民工就业质量,可采取适度放宽户籍政策、强化技能培训、提高社保水平、拓展政治参与途径、加强人文关怀等措施。     

Effects of Minimum Wages on Youth Employment: the Importance of Accounting for Spatial Correlation

The relationship between minimum wage increases and youth employment is investigated using county-level data and spatial econometric techniques. Results that account for spatial correlation indicate that a 10% increase in the effective minimum wage is associated with a 3.2% decrease in youth employment, a result that is 28% higher than the corresponding estimate that does not control for spatial correlation. Thus, estimates that do not take into account spatial correlation may significantly underestimate the negative effect of the minimum wage on teenage employment. Improperly controlling for factors that vary systematically over space can lead to incorrect inferences and misinform policy.

Systemic Barriers to the Employment of Social Workers in Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Agencies

Abstract

Literature suggests a low number of social workers employed in the field of alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment. This study shows that social workers with undergraduate degrees (BSWs) have higher rates of employment in AOD than bachelor's degree holders from other disciplines. Master's level social workers (MSWs), however, have a much lower involvement than their counterparts with counseling degrees. Six factors are inferred to partially explain MSWs' low involvement in the field: (1) low education requirements; (2) low pay; (3) absence of “social worker” positions; (4) competition among different disciplines; (5) lack of MSW interns; and (6) state certification requirement. Suggestions to increase the employment of social workers in the AOD field are offered.     

Making Modernity in China: Employment and Entrepreneurship among the New Generation of Peasant Workers

China is experiencing urbanization and modernization at the largest scale in human history. An army of over 280 million “peasant workers” are an integral part of this great transformation to modernity. Drawing on different data sources, including national representative random samples and the authors' first-hand survey data, we provide systematic comparisons between the older and the younger generation of peasant workers and between young peasant entrepreneurs in cities and young returnee entrepreneurs. We found that, compared with the older generation, the younger generation of peasant workers is better educated, holds more stable jobs, has a higher income, lives a happier life and is more optimistic about the future. Our analysis of the two types of peasant entrepreneurs shows that they are the elites among peasant workers, running successful business and making handsome profits. We also note that discrimination and institutional obstacles, especially the hukou system, remain to be overcome in the peasant workers' transition to modernity.     

促进农民工就业,推进城镇化战略

各级政府高度重视农民工就业工作,把转移农村劳动力作为就业工作的重点之一。虽然,对农村富余劳动力进城务工拆除了门槛,取消了种种不合理的限制,但与城镇下岗失业人员相比,农村富余劳动力进城务工在享受政策待遇上仍有不少差别。把符合条件的农业人口逐步转变为城市居民,不是简单地让农民工到城市打工,而是要让农民工融入整个城市,在劳动就业、工资待遇、子女教育、社会保障等方面享受与城镇居民相同的待遇。     

A Note on Dual Internal Labor Markets and Wages of Temporary Workers: Evidence from Linked-Employer-Employee Data

I use linked employer-employee data from the German Federal Statistical Office to estimate within-firm wage differentials between temporary workers with fixed-term contracts and workers with permanent contracts in the context of dual internal labor markets. Wage-tenure profiles of permanent workers are estimated separately for each firm to obtain a proxy for the prevalence of internal labor markets. Temporary workers earn significantly lower wages in firms with steeper wage-tenure profiles. This finding is consistent with the segmentation in a primary permanent workforce with high wages and a secondary temporary workforce with low wages, if internal labor markets are more prevalent.     

Economic Trends,Politics, and Employment Policy for Older Workers

The rising interest among policymakers in developing employment policies for older persons can be traced to several sources. Two of these-concerns about the financing of retirement benefits and fears about possible future labor shortages-are shaping employment policies in ways that have undesirable consequences for older workers who are in poor health and who lack the economic resources to be able to afford retirement. In contrast, employment policies that operate by providing work incentives, rather than retirement disincentives, do not have discriminatory impacts on these subgroups of the older population.     

Credit Card Debt and the Provision of Financial Support to Kin in the US

Credit card debt stands at over $1 trillion in the US and grows continuously. Scholars have argued that high (and growing) levels of credit card debt are attributable in part to rising economic vulnerabilities, combined with a thinning public safety net, credit cards being increasingly employed to make ends meet in this context. This paper extends this line of work by stressing that individuals and households do not rely on their credit cards only to mitigate their own financial hardships, but also those experienced by their non-coresidential kin members. More specifically, building on the notion that kin networks can constitute a source of negative social capital, we argue that individuals often accumulate credit card debt as they attempt to provide monetary assistance to their relatives in need. We also show that this effect is particularly strong in lower-income groups and in African American communities, in which need levels are especially high. Based on random and fixed effects analyses of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, these insights extend scholarship on both kin networks of support and the sources of credit card debt.

     

Wages and the dominant firm

The standard one-period model of an industry populated by one large firm and a fringe of small competitors is used to show that the traditional focus on dominant firm pricing strategies is too narrow. In an era of industry-wide wage-setting or spillover effects, the dominant firm may also improve its position through generous wage contracts that spread to its competitors and raise their costs. Some general observations are made about the model’s applicability and its possible extension to oligopoly theory and stagflation. I wish to thank Richard C. Levin and Derek C. Jones for their many helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.     

The Determinants of Employment of Affiliates of US Multinational Enterprises in Africa

Employment of foreign affiliates of multinational enterprises has been shown to promote growth by boosting wages, increasing the transfer of technology and enhancing productivity in host countries. Yet, the factors affecting such multinational employment in Africa have not been studied. Using panel data, this article indicates that – in contrast to natural resource availability – good infrastructure, higher income, openness to trade and an educated labour force have a significant positive impact on employment. In order to realise the employment benefits of FDI, therefore, sub‐Saharan Africa needs to attract investments in non‐natural resource industries, and host countries need to improve their infrastructure and educate their population.     

Sociology as a Strategy of Support for Long-Term Unemployed Workers

In recent years workers in the United States have become increasingly vulnerable to spells of long-term unemployment, which are often accompanied by self-devaluation and the internalization of stigma. The existing literature consistently finds that dominant self-help career support institutions activate individualistic cultural narratives that obscure the shared and structural determinants of career challenges and often intensify the self-stigmatization and emotional toll of long-term unemployment. This paper examines an alternative approach to support based on sociologically-informed discourses and practices. Drawing on in-depth interviews of long-term unemployed white-collar workers who received such support we explore whether and how sociologically-informed support practices can reduce self-stigmatization and help workers confront the challenges posed by long-term unemployment. We show that self-stigmatization is not an inevitable outcome of unemployment in the American cultural context, and that the application of a sociologically-informed approach to support can activate narratives focused on the shared and structural roots of unemployment. The activation of such narratives counteracts the debilitating internalization of stigma and generates what we call a “re-valuation” of the self. Beyond long-term unemployment, the findings in this paper suggest broader benefits to American workers from institutions that foster a sociological imagination for contextualizing employment-related challenges.     

Employment and Informal Network Support Among AFDC and Non-AFDC Single Mothers

This empirical study compares, through logistic regression analysis, the relationship between the use of informal resource supports and the labor force activity of single mothers who are AFDC recipients to those who are non-AFDC recipients. The survey data are based on interviews with 900 African-American, white, Puerto Rican and Mexican low-income single mothers in Chicago. The study found that women who had access to and used informal resource support had a significantly greater likelihood of being in the labor force than women without such supports. This relationship held true for women receiving AFDC and not receiving AFDC.     

Wages and inflation in Quebec

La plupart des sociologues qui ont étudié L'inflation des années de L'après-guerre ont tenté de L'expliquer par la 'poussée des salaires, causée par le militantisme du mouvement ouvrier. Pourtant, les données en la matière souffrent d'une ambiguité qui est souvent ignorée. Je présente dans cet article une réévaluation de la question, et je propose une analyse de la relation entre salaires et inflation au Québec - une province où certains ont cru voir un mouvement ouvrier particulièrement militant. La thèse de la 'poussée des salaires' et les données québécoises sont incompatibles. Ces données suggèrent au contraire que les salaires ont eu tendance à suivre, plutôt que précécler, la montée des prix; et que le militantisme des travailleurs/euses a été une conséquence, plutôt qu'une cause, de L'inflation.
Most sociologists who have tried to explain the postwar inflation have done so in terms of the effects of wage-push' rooted in the militancy of the labour movement. The evidence to support this is, however, much more mixed than their treatment would suggest. In this paper I review and criticize the available evidence and assemble and analyse data on leads and lags between wages and inflation in Quebec, a province sometimes thought to have a particularly militant labour movement. The Quebec data are not consistent with the wage-push account. They suggest that wages have tended to lag rather than lead price rises and that worker militancy has been more a consequence than a cause of inflation.