What do unions do now?

Journal of Labor Research - Since the publication of Freeman and Medoff’s What Do Unions Do? in 1984, labor economists have accumulated a wealth of empirical evidence on the economic effects...     

What do unions really do? A review article

“All told, if our research findings are correct, the ongoing decline in private sector unionism ... deserves serious public attention as being socially undesirable. We believe that the time has come for the nation to reassess its implicit and explicit policies toward unionism, such as it has done several times in the past. And we hope that such a reassessment would lead to a new public posture toward the key worker institution under capitalism — a posture based on what unions actually do in society and on what, under the best circumstances, they can do to improve the well-being of the free enterprise system, and of us all” (Freeman and Medoff, 1984, p. 251). Helpful comments on an earlier draft were received from Barry Hirsch, Stanley Siebert, Leo Troy, Richard Perlman, and Joe Reid.     

Poverty in Kathmandu: What do subjective and objective economic welfare concepts suggest?

Conventional definitions suggest that the concept of economic welfare underpins poverty. Unsettled issues abound with respect to using subjective versus objective approaches, however. Using micro-level survey data, this paper explores subjective and objective concepts of economic welfare to identify characteristics of poverty in Kathmandu. While application of the subjective and objective concepts of economic welfare yields rather different characteristics, the former appears to be more comprehensive with ability to incorporate the latter in poverty measurement and analysis. This indicates that subjective assessments of households can provide a more realistic picture of poverty when used with actual income and consumption data. Although this paper does not seek to develop any particular poverty standard, it provides a useful framework for integrating subjective and objective approaches with a promise of more comprehensive poverty measurement outcomes.     

The economic effects of faculty unions

The relationship between faculty salaries and unionism at Ph.D.-level universities is investigated. Unlike previous attempts at analyzing this topic, the model endogenizes the union-nonunion choice using appropriate techniques for analyzing limited dependent variables. These techniques allow computation of average salaries for all schools under the assumption that they are unionized and also under the assumption that they are not unionized. Subtraction of the predicted nonunion salary from the union salary provides an estimate of salary differences, which is corrected for selectivity bias.     

Emotions in criminological theory: Insights from social psychology

A number of scholars have noted that emotional processes have been undertheorized in criminology. Although criminologists have explored how various emotions facilitate or inhibit crime, few formal theories of crime clearly address the role of emotional processes. Sociological theories of emotions provide a number of insights that criminologists might find useful to help fill the gaps in criminological explanations of offending. We illustrate the utility of sociological theories of emotions to criminology by connecting three prominent criminological theories with complimentary social psychological theories of emotions. Specifically, we discuss how the power–status theory of emotions can clarify emotional responses to strain in general strain theory, how affect control theory can illuminate the emotions involved in identity adoption within labeling theory, and how interaction ritual chains theory can highlight emotional responses to coercion in differential coercion theory. Making connections to more clearly theorize emotions is critical to the advancement of criminological theory.     

What do teenagers want? What do teenagers need?

It is widely accepted that adolescence is a developmental phase fraught with challenges, yet in the 1990s, teenagers face unique demands and difficulties. Dilemmas such as increased violence, drug and alcohol use, sexual involvement and AIDS pose problems not only for the teens themselves, but also for their families, teachers, health care providers and other caregivers.This article reports on the qualitative findings extracted from a study of over 3,700 teenagers from urban, suburban, and small city settings, describing the array of difficulties teenagers face today. The themes which emerged from the students' comments offer a compelling portrait of life as a teenager in the 1990s and help shape an agenda for understanding and responding to these myriad needsThis research was supported by grants from the Ohio Department of Mental Health (#93,1058A), Treu-Mart Fund, Nord Family Foundation, and the University at Albany Faculty Research Awards Program.     

What buildings do

Theory and Society -     

The economic effects of labor unions revisited

Using a variety of statistical techniques, we conclude that labor unions have reduced U.S. output by significant amounts —trillions of dollars over time. Additionally, the employment- population ratio and the unemployment rate have been adversely affected by the presence of unions. From the very beginning, unionization materially lowered employment in the auto and steel industries, and union militancy in coal mining has contributed importantly to largely eliminating employment in this once large industry. While some individual workers have profited from unions, the aggregate economic impact is strongly negative.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">What do unions do?</Emphasis>—A management perspective

conclusion Over the past 30 years, progressive human resource policies and government regulation of the workplace have improved working conditions. Today unions are no longer exercising union power to“protect the underdog” or “level the playing field” (Kaufman, 2005). Unions are using their power to pass legislation to benefit their narrow special interests. There are two groups in the workforce that may provide unions with organizing opportunities. One segment of the workforce is the growing number of nonpermanent employees or contingent workers. Another is the growing low-wage part of the service sector. The Service Employees International Union has been one of the few unions to expand membership among these employees. The aging of the baby boomers will raise the demand for service workers in health care facilities and in hotel and office maintenance which will increase organizing opportunities for unions in this industry (Kosters, 2004).     

Rethinking development theory: Insights from East Asia and Latin America

Development theory dealing with the highly industrialized countries of East Asia and Latin America has foundered in terms of its ability to generalize. The theories and concepts often are biased because they are derived from a selective and uneven reading of evidence from the two regions. This paper outlines the perceptions and misconceptions of a variety of theoretical perspectives on development, and then presents cross-regional evidence from East Asia and Latin America that suggests the need for a reformulation and synthesis of some of these earlier approaches. This theoretical synthesis focuses on three related themes: (1) the declining significance of industrialization; (2) the position of core and peripheral capital in commodity chains and export/marketing networks, which are becoming key units of analysis in the contemporary global manufacturing system; and (3) a new framework for differentiating the roles of the newly industrializing countries in the world economy.     

What do child characteristics contribute to outcomes from care: A PRISMA review

This article presents the findings from a systematic review of the literature regarding factors related to positive placement outcomes. Children in care are particularly vulnerable to problems with their emotional and behavioural development. It is important to know which factors affect whether children will have a positive placement outcome or not. Previous research has aimed to examine this, and has found that certain child characteristics can affect placement outcome. Reviews have not reported their search strategy in line with PRISMA guidelines, nor have they always reported the source of the data. This review was particularly interested in which studies had contact with the children or carers themselves, as opposed to a reliance on administrative data. There appear to be child characteristics that affect placement outcome, but findings need to be interpreted with caution due to a high volume of results from administrative data. Future research should aim to conduct full assessments with children when they come into care.