American Attitudes toward Guest Worker Policies

In this study we use data from a 2004 New York Times/CBS News national survey to analyze public opinion toward a guest worker program and to compare predictors of support for guest worker and general immigration policies. In general, Americans tend to be divided in their attitudes toward a guest worker program, although support for temporary worker policies is stronger when legalization for unauthorized immigrants is conditioned on certain requirements, and when the program is coupled with enhanced border security. The results of the bivariate probit analysis indicate that individuals who favor reducing the immigration level also tend to oppose instituting a guest worker program. Perceptions of the “costs” of immigration emerged as the most important determinant of individuals’ attitudes toward immigration policies; such beliefs contributed to opposition to a guest worker policy and support for reducing the immigration level. We also found that residents of high‐immigration states and Latinos were more likely to support a temporary worker program. However, these characteristics do not appear to influence individuals’ judgments about the number of immigrants who should be admitted to the United States. Findings regarding the impact of political partisanship and ideology on attitudes toward the two policies were more ambiguous.     

Revisiting multi-tier wage structures: Equity,employment mobility,and tier effects

This study considers the competing conclusions reached by Martin and Peterson (1987) and Cappelli and Sherer (1990) regarding two-tier wage systems and examines how worker perceptions of their own employment mobility affect attitudes about two-tier systems. Findings from a hybrid multi-tier wage system in the retail food industry containing both permanent and merging or temporary tiers indicates that workers on the permanently lower B tier possessed more negative attitudes than their A-tier counterparts, with some evidence that the effects of permanent and temporary plans differ. Employment mobility moderates these attitudes, for low mobility workers report more positive attitudes than do high mobility workers.     

Piece rate pay

The theory of piece-rate pay suggests firms may be able to adjust their variable costs by altering work standards and the piece rate itself. Another argument holds that piece-rate systems can economize on the cost of monitoring worker output, that such systems are a substitute for management. Union positions on these points have supported the notion that piece-rate pay can be both a benefit and a cost to workers, depending on the cost of monitoring. However, competitive forces ultimately force all pay systems to reflect the opportunity costs of all factors of production.     

Adoption as a Contingency of Self-worth: An Integrative Approach to Self-esteem in Adopted Individuals

A significant limitation of current adoption theory is the lack of identification of clear mechanisms by which macro-societal attitudes toward adoption and adopted persons influence processes of self-esteem. Building on current efforts, a new integrative theoretical approach to self-esteem in adopted persons is presented, incorporating contingency of self-worth theory. Motivation to manage one's self-esteem while imbedded within a larger social context is identified as a key mechanism in the formation of self-esteem and identity. Valuation of one's adoptive status as a positive source of self-esteem will depend largely on the attitudes pervasive in the social environment.     

Training Environments, Work Attitudes, and Turnover Intention

A recent and extensive review of research concluded that worker age–viewed both chronologically and in terms of career stage–was a decisive determinant of work attitudes including turnover intention, i.e., intention to remain in an occupation or to leave it. This paper reports a study of work attitudes among 732 American, British, and Spanish students undergoing training as merchant marine engineering officers. All were of the same age and were at the same point in their careers. Wide differences were shown in terms of attitudes toward the occupation including turnover intention. The single most important variable was the national context in which training was taking place: The Americans exhibited the most negative work attitudes and the higher turnover intention; the Spanish had the most positive attitudes and the lowest turnover intention; the British tended to fall in the middle. Social class origin had some, though irregular, effects. The national differences are explained in terms of the training environments existing in the schools as well as structural features surrounding the merchant marine industry and the organization of training for the occupation in each country. Hence, though age may be a decisive element in work attitudes, this study suggests that the social organization within which age factors are located may determine the scope and forms of its effects.     

POSITIONAL POWER, CLASS, AND INDIVIDUAL EARNINGS INEQUALITY: Advancing New Structuralist Explanations

This article seeks to advance "new structuralist" theory by considering the effects of positional power and class on individual earnings. We contend that positional power, that is the power wielded by workers employed in industries in an interdependent economy, confers upon workers the potential to disrupt system-wide production and creates leverage to demand higher earnings from employers. We demonstrate that positional power, in particular the per worker volume of goods and services received from other industries (or upstream production), increases workers' earnings net of sociodemographic variables and other plausible structural sources of earnings determination. We suggest that the threat of disrupting upstream production holds greater earnings potential than disrupting downstream production because of the profit realization problems associated with the former. We also show that the positive effects of positional power are not evenly distributed across the class structure, but rather are concentrated among non-owning classes who display a social control function in the labor process. We discuss the implications of our research for future new structuralist research.     

EAP Benefit and Cost Structure Analysis:

This presentation is a review of basic estimation methods geared for assessment of service benefit and cost structure of employee assistance programs (EAPs). The methodologies specify how various benefit and cost items can be organized and measured in dollar figures in order to translate effects of the EAP and operating cost distribution patterns. Based on the calculations, EAPs may assess cost saving patterns and avoid becoming a financial liability to the company. The estimation of benefit/cost ratios can be utilized for establishing program accountability and planning purposes. The methodologies presented in this chapter are at an introductory level. They are geared for EAP personnel and social work students interested in EAPs who have minimal familiarity with cost and benefit structure analysis.     

Privatisation and economism: an investigation amongst 'producers' in two privatised public utilities in Britain

Both academic and political debate about the effects of privatisation upon employees in privatised companies has taken place in something of an empirical vacuum. In particular, there is a lack of systematic enquiries into the major privatised utilities. Despite the lack of evidence, a number of claims have been advanced, both about the impact of privatisation upon the political attitudes of employees, and about its effects on working conditions, worker motivation and behaviour. This paper presents the results of a survey of 442 employees in two privatised public utilities. It is divided into two parts, looking first at the more general social and political attitudes of these employees, then presenting their views on the impact of privatisation on the company they work for, and on their working lives. The findings reported here lend little support either to new right claims about privatisation's transformative powers or to the view that ‘for most people … privatisation will make very little difference at all’ (Saunders and Harris, 1990).     

Pornography and moral attitudes

Previous research identifies two dissimilar strains of anti‐pornography sentiment: conservative moral traditionalism and feminism. Spokespersons for each of these sources of opposition to pornography have achieved some visibility in the media and political arena, but their general level of support is undetermined. This study analyzes the underpinnings of attitudes toward pornography in the public with data from a citywide survey. Initially, five demographic factors, five religiosity factors, three political indicators, and sexual restrictiveness are examined as pornography attitude predictors using bivariate and multivariate techniques. Women and elderly, married, and less educated persons are most condemning of pornography as are religious traditionalists, political conservatives, and persons with restrictive attitudes toward sexuality. These patterns are analyzed further with the estimation of a causal model, gender interaction terms, and a decomposition of the predictor variables’ effects. Although women are notably more opposed to pornography than men, there are no substantial gender interaction effects, and gender effects on pornography are largely direct.     

Works Councils and Firm Productivity in France

This paper utilizes establishment-level data to explore the impact of works councils on firm productivity in France. A variety of empirical techniques is employed, including fixed effects and regression discontinuity designs, to identify this impact. We estimate the works council effect on productivity in union and nonunion settings, and investigate the extent to which alternative forms of worker voice and information sharing might substitute for the works council’s impact in production. We find no evidence of a positive impact of works councils on firm productivity in any of our results, and some limited evidence of a negative effect in some of the findings. There is no indication that estimated impacts on productivity vary with union status. However, a notable finding is that worker voice and information-sharing human resource practices are prevalent in French firms regardless of works council status, and are found to have positive and statistically significant effects on firm productivity.     

Absenteeism and the risk of involuntary unemployment: A dynamic analysis

Absence from work is a risky activity for an employed worker, as it may lead to dismissal and involuntary unemployment. The cost of unemployment to a worker depends, however, on absence behavior had the worker remained employed. Hence, absence decisions over time are interrelated. This article examines the dynamic and some comparative static aspects of the absence decision under uncertainty: the nature of its variation over time, its response to variations in the unemployment rate, and its alleged subjection to a moral hazard effect in the presence of an unemployment insurance program.     

Web survey design and administration.

Many claims are being made about the advantages of conducting surveys on the Web. However, there has been little research on the effects of format or design on the levels of unit and item response or on data quality. In a study conducted at the University of Michigan, a number of experiments were added to a survey of the student population to assess the impact of design features on resulting data quality. A sample of 1,602 students was sent an e-mail invitation to participate in a Web survey on attitudes toward affirmative action. Three experiments on design approaches were added to the survey application. One experiment varied whether respondents were reminded of their progress through the instrument. In a second experiment, one version presented several related items on one screen, while the other version presented one question per screen. In a third experiment, for one series of questions a random half of the sample clicked radio buttons to indicate their answers, while the other half entered a numeric response in a box. This article discusses the overall implementation and outcome of the survey, and it describes the results of the imbedded design experiments.     

The News Media in Children's Political Socialization

The research reported examines the impact of the news mediaas an agent of political socialization on children's politicalknowledge, their attitudes toward political parties and electoralsystems, and their activities relative to politics. Childrennews media use and level of political knowledge function asprimary sources of causal effects for each other. They are consistentlymore important in their effects on the attitudes and types ofparticipation studied in this research than are the parentaland educational system socialization indicators or the structuralvariables of grade and gender.     

ESTIMATING THE LIQUIDITY OF M2 COMPONENTS IN THE POST-DIDMCA ERA

This paper estimates the liquidity of M2 components within an intertemporal model of a representative household. A modification of Pfann and Verspagen's asymmetric adjustment cost function measures liquidity cost. Generalized Method of Moments estimation of structural parameters using monthly data for December 1983–March 1993 reveals significant evidence of asymmetry toward decreasing asset holdings for all components except demand deposits. Estimated withdrawal costs for savings deposits, money market mutual funds, and small time deposits are small. Split sample estimations suggest greater liquidity in the more recent period. The results point to the effects of financial innovation in lowering withdrawal costs. (JEL E51, D91)     

Where professional and personal values may clash: social workers' attitudes towards professional involvement in the evacuation of Israeli settlers from Gaza and Northern Samaria

Israel's evacuation of settlers from their homes in Gaza and North Samaria provided a real time opportunity to examine social workers' attitudes towards offering their services in controversial political situations. This study, conducted shortly before the evacuation, is a qualitative examination of the attitudes of 108 Israeli social workers towards offering professional services to the evacuees. Findings show that while most respondents supported social worker involvement, around a quarter either qualified their support or objected outright. Calls are made to ensure that professional services and resources become available to persons of all political persuasions and in all political situations.     

‘Now I’d like to sleep with Rachael’ – researching sexuality support in a service agency group home

Many intellectually disabled people living in agency services require significant forms of support to live safe and satisfying sexual lives. Research reveals that despite support personnel working in service systems now holding largely positive attitudes towards sexuality assistance, proactive practice is rarely initiated. This article probes what might lie within this attitude/assistance gap. This investigation reveals a complex picture of practices that rely on intellectually disabled people showing conformation to a ‘couple doing normal’ ideal, so as to be judged capable of being supported. It examines how wider social locations of meaning related to ‘intellectual disability’ and ‘sexuality’ might substantiate these judgement calls. The degree to which it can be said that worker’s own attitudes and values underpin their reluctance to provide support is then explored. Finally, why researchers and practitioners might need to reappraise the complex interactions that shape worker’s practice in this area is discussed.     

Why a fixed workweek?

The main goal of this article is to explain why the fixed workweek appeared. To this purpose we differentiate between “jobs” and “hours per job”. We consider an economy where hours and number of workers are substitutes in production but in which hiring a worker entails a fixed cost plus a variable cost per hour worked. As a consequence, firms would like workers to work as many hours as possible. In an unregulated economy, workers work more hours that they would like to at the on-going wage rate. This situation characterizes the economy of today’s industrialized countries in the 19th century.     

EAP Referral Training and Supervisor's Beliefs About Troubled Workers

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between EAP referral training and supervisors' interactions with troubled workers. Using a field survey, self-report, retrospective methodology, 224 industrial supervisors' beliefs about impaired employees were examined in connection with the former group's participation in constructive confrontation training and their attitudes toward EAPs. In general, based on Bayer and Gerstein's (1988a) Bystander-Equity Model of Supervisory Helping Behavior, it was predicted that supervisors who had attended training and/or held positive attitudes toward their EAP would report more welldeveloped beliefs about troubled workers than persons who had not received training and/or held negative attitudes toward their EAP. Overall, our results provided support for the idea that constructive confrontation training enhances supervisors' recognition of impaired employees. While we anticipated this finding, we did not expect supervisors to report that their attitudes toward their EAP were unrelated to their beliefs about troubled persons. Alternative explanations for why supervisors behaved differently from what we had anticipated are offered, as are suggestions for how to conduct research on other aspects of the supervisor-impaired worker identification process.     

Job matching and return to work: Occupational rehabilitation as the link

Return to work after injury or illness is important for the worker and the employer. Medical providers manage and treat the worker with the illness or injury. Except in cases of focused specialists, the medical professional's role is to take care of a patient, rather than empower a worker. As much as there is promotion of the workers compensation health care system to be similar to sports medicine, there are significant dissimilarities. One major barrier is that the medical caregivers do not know the demands of jobs as they would know the details of sports. Thus, there is a gap in returning a worker to function as the medical professional cannot accurately match the worker to specific jobs. A new model of job function matching, based on research and skills of occupational rehabilitation professionals, is proposed to bridge the gap between the medical community, the employers and the workers.     

PIECE‐RATE CONTRACTS FOR OTHER‐REGARDING WORKERS

When workers are paid with piece rates, inequality arises naturally. We consider workers who care about income comparisons and are either status seeking or inequality averse. We identify circumstances under which inequality attitudes lead workers to exert more effort than they would otherwise, and also circumstances under which workers’ inequality attitudes lead firms to set lower piece rates than they would otherwise. The key behavioral assumption for both of these results to hold when workers are identical is behindness aversion, the property that changes in inequality matter more to the worker when he is behind than when he is ahead. (JEL D01, J33, M52)