The returns to seniority in academic labor markets

Although earnings and seniority are believed positively related in most labor markets, the earnings of academics were thought to be an exception to this rule. Using the National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty, from 1993, we find that earnings and seniority are positively related once adequate controls for past labor market mobility are included among the regressors. In particular, we find that individuals who are currently tenured at their initial job have the steepest seniority profile of any group we examined. We also find a handsome premium paid to individuals who are hired-with-tenure. These results suggest a market characterized by competitive “raiding” of top faculty.     

Recent developments in the employment and retirement of older workers in Germany

Against a background of an aging population, rising social security costs, and foreseeable labor and skill shortages, there have been public policy changes affecting older workers in Germany. Labor-market related initiatives aim at an increase of labor force participation among this group. Enterprise-related, active age-management strategies aim at improving occupational conditions of aging workers. In this context, prolonging the working life must be seen as one option of "active aging." Another view of the current retirement discussion is the question of how the unused potential of Germany's younger, early-retired seniors can be exploited. Active aging has become a social duty nowadays, with the intention that older persons contribute to society to avoid generational conflicts. In the future, active aging will preserve the competitiveness of enterprises and of the entire economy, despite an aging labor force. But gerontological research points out that different options to carry out individual life plans of active aging are also required. This article reviews the changes in public policies towards older workers and includes the findings of a project that illustrates good practice to combat age barriers in the labor world.     

The impact of labor unions on the passage of economic legislation

This paper examines the political power of labor unions. A model of the decision of an interest group to contribute to a political campaign is developed and tested. The empirical evidence indicates that interest groups, and unions in particular, use political contributions in a systematic and coordinated manner. Unions give money to candidates with relatively little seniority (who might otherwise not be elected) and to candidates from districts with about the average number of union members. Such candidates might otherwise not vote as the union would desire. The influence of campaign contributions and of union membership on the voting of congressmen on issues of interest to unions is also investigated. Union membership is sometimes significant and campaign contributions are always significant in explaining voting on minimum wages, wageprice controls, benefits for strikers, and OSHA and CETA appropriations. The indirect economic effects of labor unions — those effects which occur because unions influence legislation — may be as important as the direct effects which occur through collective bargaining.     

Participation in union activities: A multivariate analysis

Multivariate analysis is used to estimate a model of member participation in local union activities. A sample of 387 members of the UAW living in the Detroit area was drawn from the1961 Detroit Area Study: Work Group Influence and Political Participation. It was hypothesized that participation would be positively associated with level of schooling, current wages, seniority, skilled jobs, job dissatisfaction, dissatisfaction with the local union, desire for another job, commitment to the labor movement, and getting along with others. OLS and Logit estimation techniques were used and support was found for all hypotheses except those related to wage levels and seniority.     

The use of information technology in a strike

Conclusion Exhausted by almost eight months of striking, the CEP members urged their union officers to take a radical proposal to the Herald: forget the seniority clause, which the company had maintained was the main stumbling block. Many union members believed that the Herald and Conrad Black didn’t care about seniority and had picked it as an issue in full confidence that it was the one item no union would drop. But since nothing else was working, despite evidence the Herald was suffering severe circulation and corporate-image losses, it was time to call the employer’s bluff. The company seemed to be taken by surprice at the CEP’s abandoning of the cherished principle when union and compeny representatives met in front of an official of the Alberta government. But within a few days, Gaynor was saying publicly there were other issues in the way, not just seniority. Despite the innovative use of electronic communications during the strike, there was no hope of obtaining a settlement if the Herald wasn’t forced to negotiate with the union. The provincial government, however, failed to enforce provisions of its weak labor laws that required “bargaining in good faith.”     

Race and Loss of Privilege: African American/White Differences in the Determinants of Job Layoffs From Upper-Tier Occupations

Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics supports predictions from the minority vulnerability thesis concerning the determinants of job layoffs among African Americans and Whites who work in upper-middle-class occupations. Specifically, after controlling for seniority, layoffs for African Americans are relatively unstructured by traditional stratification-based causal factors, namely, background socioeconomic status, human-capital credentials, and job/labor market characteristics. Analyses also indicate that racial differences in the determinants of layoffs are more pronounced in nonservice-based than service-based firms in the private sector and in the private sector relative to the public sector.     

Moral hazard in marriage: the use of domestic labor as an incentive device

This paper argues that some women in developing countries use domestic labor as a tool to incentivize husbands. A theoretical model is derived based on the traditions of rural Malawi, where men often supplement farm income with wage labor. As wage labor is not observed by the wife, this creates moral hazard: husbands may not make enough effort to bring home wages. The model predicts that women overcome this by using domestic labor as an incentive device: they increase their domestic labor and reduce their leisure in response to good consumption outcomes, but only if they cannot rely on divorce threat as an alternative source of incentives. This prediction is confirmed using survey data from Malawi. Identification is based on the fact that Malawi’s kinship traditions exogenously determine women’s accessibility to divorce. Where divorce is not an option, women make inefficient labor choices in order to provide incentives.     

An ordered choice model of promotion rules

This paper continues an important but short line of research investigating non-pecuniary outcomes of collective bargaining. These outcomes define the rules governing the employment relationship. The determinants of one of the most important of these rules — the one that governs the intrafirm allocation of labor — are analyzed. Specifically, micro-level data are used to estimate the determinants of promotion rules in major collective bargaining agreements in U.S. manufacturing. A multinomial choice model is estimated once these rules have been ordered along the joint dimension of increasing weight attached to seniority across a broadening seniority unit. The evidence suggests that contracts involving small, capital-intensive firms, whose technologies value specific training, in single-employer bargaining units, that contain an increasing proportion of men, are most likely to exhibit promotion rules that heavily weight company-wide seniority. This paper has greatly benefited from the comments of Cynthia Gramm, Wallace Hendricks, Jan Ondrich, Michael Wasylenko, and the participants in workshops at The Metropolitan Studies Program, Syracuse University, and at The New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, and from an anonymous referee. Excellent research assistance was provided by Sally Wallace. The usual disclaimer applies.     

Employers' knowledge and attitudes regarding organizational policy toward workers caring for aging family members

The study examined employers' knowledge of and attitudes toward working carers who care for aging family members. The study was based on the ecological model. One hundred employers were interviewed using structured questionnaires and 13 employers by additional in-depth interviews. Both research instruments included areas of disruption to the organization, existing policies, and feasibility as to developing appropriate policies to support working carers. Results show that caregiving caused a disruption in workers' functioning mainly by being absent, leaving work early, and coming to work late. Usually, there was "no policy," and half of the employers did not support introducing such a policy. Women managers in public organizations, who had less seniority and less previous experience with working-carers, tended to be more positive about supportive policies. Recommendations are included.     

Employment seniority: Cases from Iago to Weber

Expectations based on length of service concerning promotion and other conditions of employment antedate institutionalized collective bargaining. With the growth of unionization, formal seniority rules came increasingly to be incorporated in collective agreements to provide fair and objective criteria for regulation of layoffs, recall from layoff, and promotion on the basis of waiting one’s turn in a line of succession. The remedy sought by plaintiffs in discrimination cases is court-ordered assignment to their rightful place on the appropriate seniority roster. Plaintiffs in “reverse discrimination” cases seek ouster of former discriminatees who were placed ahead of them under affirmative action. This inquiry is supported in part by a grant from the American Philosophical Society and by the sabbatical budget of the University of Rhode Island     

Position in formal structure, personal characteristics and choices of advisors in a law firm: A logistic regression model for dyadic network data

This paper presents a statistical model for the analysis of binary sociometric choice data, the p₂ model, which provides a flexible way for using explanatory variables to model network structure. It is applied to examine the influence of the formal structure of an organization on interactions among its members. It is shown to provide a general and precise method for addressing this substantive issue. We identify the respective effects of position in the formal structure (status, seniority, division of work and office membership) and selected personal characteristics of members of a corporate law firm on their choices of advisors. Flows of advice are shown to be consistently shaped by status games and the pecking order in the firm. Other dimensions help members in mitigating the effect of this strong rule. This approach ultimately provides more understanding of how members of such firms try to balance cooperation and competition in terms of access to and management of key resources.     

Union Legitimacy and the Team Concept: A Case Study of Workers’ Attitudes*

Unions are facing a crisis of legitimacy resulting in part from employer‐initiated workplace participation programs that seek to undermine labor militancy and attachment to unions. The overall trend among union leaders, however, is support for the team concept when implemented in unionized settings. This study examines the effect of union involvement in the team concept on pragmatic and moral union legitimacy at the first unionized team concept assembly plant in the automobile industry—the General Motors’ truck plant in Shreveport, Louisiana. The unique contribution of the study is that it systematically examines how workers who began their careers in the industry under different production regimes view the team concept and union legitimacy. The analysis is based on a random sample survey of workers and employs an original approach of comparing work attitudes and union legitimacy among different “political cohorts.” The results indicate that the team concept threatens pragmatic union legitimacy for veteran workers because it undermines seniority rights. Significant time working under the team concept may also weaken moral union legitimacy, even among workers socialized initially in nonteam concept environments.     

ETHNIC LABOR MARKETS, GENDER, AND SOCIOECONOMIC INEQUALITY:

The research examines the way in which the economic structure of the Arab labor market in Israel, coupled with gender-linked occupational segregation affects gender differences in socioeconomic attainment. The analysis is based on the 1983 Israeli Census of Population. The concept of ethnic labor market is discussed in a comparative perspective, shifting the focus to public sector employment which is central to the Arab labor market in Israel. The analyses led to a twofold conclusion: first, the Arab labor market in Israel operates as a protected labor market, and second, it interacts with gender in the determination of socioeconomic outcomes. In the absence of competition minority workers are able to achieve in the ethnic labor market high status occupational positions that are typically denied them in the wider society. The occupational advantages are especially pronounced among Arab women. For men, employment in the ethnic labor market increases occupational status but provides lower earnings than employment outside.     

Economic implications of Japan's aging population: a macro-economic demographic modeling approach

This paper utilizes a macroeconomic demographic model to analyze the probable impact of population aging on various public programs in Japan. Rapid fertility decline aided by mortality decline has caused the proportion of the Japanese population aged 65 and over to increase from 4.9% in 1950 to 9.0% in 1980. A population projection based on the 1975 population census assumes a recovery of fertility from a total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.9 in 1976 to 2.16 in 1980 and a gradual decline to 2.1 by 1987, while an alternative projection assumes a continuing fertility decline to a TFR of 1.65 in 2025. According to these assumptions, in 2025 18.12% to 21.29% of the total population would be aged 65 or over and 38.66% to 43.80% of the working age population would be aged 45-64. A macroeconomic neoclassical growth model with some Keynesian features was formulated to evaluate the future impact of population aging on social security programs. Population changes are transmitted to economic variables in the model through the supply of labor, level of savings, public health care plans, and old-age pension schemes. The simulation experiments included the 2 population projections and 2 alternative production functions, 1 with the quality of labor incorporated and 1 without. The results indicated that, regardless of the population projection and production function used, the growth of the economy is likely to slow to 1 or 0% in the beginning of the next century due to decreased growth of the labor force and a change in its quality due to age-compositional variations. Public health insurance schemes and pension plans will require increasing financial resources as a result of accelerated population aging; depending on the choice of benefit levels, the proportion of national income allocated to them is expected to range from 14%-40% in the year 2010. Per capita gross national product will continue to grow despite decreased economic growth, but savings might be adversely affected if the provision of social insurance benefits continued to increase monotonically. Possible palliative measures would be to change present employment practices or to upgrade the quality of the labor force through vocational training programs for older workers.     

DOES RAIDING EXPLAIN THE NEGATIVE RETURNS TO FACULTY SENIORITY?

We track faculty for 30 yr at five PhD‐granting departments of economics. Two‐thirds of faculty who take alternative employment move downward; less than one‐quarter moves upward. We find a substantial penalty for seniority, even after richly controlling for faculty productivity, and the penalty is little changed when we allow wages and returns to seniority to differ by mobility status. Faculty who end up moving to better or comparable positions were penalized as severely for seniority while they were in our sample as faculty who stay. These results are incompatible with the raiding hypothesis. Faculty from top 10 programs are also punished for seniority but to a lesser degree than other faculty, which could reflect reduced monopsony power against such faculty if they are more marketable. All results persist when we control for prospective publications and allow lower returns for older publications. Match‐quality bias has dissipated in the post‐internet period, which may be the consequence of greater availability of information. (JEL J62, J44, J42)     

Over the Hill,Under Siege: Labor Force Graying,Labor Market Pushes,and Consequences for Life Chances

Interest in older workers has recently expanded due to concerns over labor force “graying.” Research and policy on aging adults' labor market participation have, thus far, framed the decision to labor as one shaped solely by the desires and capacities of older workers themselves. This perspective fails to recognize how multiple employer‐side barriers play a large role in defining – and limiting – available choices. In this review, I synthesize the multi‐disciplinary literature on employer‐side barriers to older workers' labor market participation. In particular, I identify and discuss individual‐, meso‐, and social structural‐level barriers that uniquely affect this group, noting where gaps in understanding remain. I consider older workers primarily as a whole to demonstrate how age operates as a distinct, important identity; however, I also reflect on how age overlaps with both other identities and cohort membership. Next, I briefly consider the relationship between these employer‐side barriers and aging adults' life chances, particularly in an era of austerity. Although I focus on the United States case, I also note key cross‐national similarities and differences. Finally, reflecting upon the foregoing review, I suggest that a redirection of public policy is necessary to effectively respond to this contemporary demographic shift.     

Moving beyond familism: Potential contributions of gerontological theory to studies of Chicano/Latino aging

Research on Chicano and Latino elders assumes that most Chicano/Latino elderly are primarily active within a family context. Familism is the most common feature of Chicano/Latino families that is used to explain the status of the elderly, how they cope with aging, and how gender dynamics among the elderly are constructed. Predictions about the future of the supportive nature of family for the elderly vary depending on how familism is conceptualized. This focus on familism is shown to be a limiting approach to Chicano/Latino aging. We illustrate how an explicit grounding in different gerontological theories directs the study of Chicano/Latino aging to include broader sociological issues. We also suggest reconceptualizing familism so that the existence of familism has theoretical as well as empirical importance. Placing research on Chicano/Latino aging into a broader sociological framework would move research away from a sociology in aging to a sociology of aging.     

THE ROLE OF ASSETS IN LABOR SUPPLY FUNCTIONS

This paper examines the argument advanced by Smith (1977) that it is inappropriate to include current assets in labor supply functions, under the assumption that a life-cycle model underlies both the asset accumulation process and the labor supply process. It is shown that on a theoretical level current labor supply may still be viewed as a function of current assets. It is also demonstrated that in empirical work based upon a life-cycle labor supply model, it may or may not be appropriate to use current assets or current wealth as an independent variable in a labor supply regression     

Labor Market Structure and Career Occupational Status Mobility: A Theoretical Model*

Sociological explanations of career or intragenerational occupational status mobility generally have not taken into explicit account the effects of labor market structure. Rooted in structural-functionalist sociological theory or neoclassical economic theories of the labor market, models typically misrepresent the process of individual occupational status mobility, primarily by including only individual characteristics. Dual labor market theory is introduced, direct as well as indirect effects of labor market structure on career occupational status mobility are outlined, and a theoretical model is presented. It is hypothesized that labor market structure will have direct effects on opportunities for career occupational status mobility that are independent of the effects of individual characteristics. Additional indirect effects are suggested: through their effects on social network structures, labor markets operate as job opportunity information filters.     

U.S. immigration policy: the guestworker option revisited

In guestworker programs foreign nationals are admitted into another country on a nonmigrant status with severely curtailed social and limited labor market rights. The duration of stay is always finite and compliance with the terms of the contract are entered through a network of legal arrangements which allow officials in the receiving country a substantial amount of administrative discretion. Pro-guestworker arguments say that the borders cannot be closed, that guestworkers can be substituted for illegal aliens, that guestworkers are better than illegal aliens, and that additional labor benefits the US economy. Those against guestworker programs stress longterm socioeconomic issues rather than short-term economic advantages, saying that guestworker programs are no quick answer for illegal immigration, for domestic labor shortages, or for the US poor population. Guestworker programs, its opponents say, provide short-run economic benefits to a few employers and individuals at the expense of more widespread and longterm socioeconomic costs. They oppose: 1) the concept of admitting foreign workers with restricted rights, 2) the concentration of any negative labor market impacts on already disadvantaged domestic groups, 3) the proliferation of "jobs which Americans won't take," 4) many temporary guests ending up permanent residents, and 5) that exporting workers is as likely to impede as accelerate job-creating economic development in immigration countries. Most economists believe that diminishing marginal productivity produces downward-sloping short-run demand for labor schedules. The European experience with these programs has been different than those in the US since foreign workers in Europe were initially recruited in response to actual labor shortages and have always had legal status, but both Europe and the US have experienced large contingents of workers who remain in the countries and are at a pronounced power disadvantage regarding the society's institutions. Studies of guestworker programs have shown that worker flows eventually become impervious to the receiver's actual labor needs as employers disaggregate jobs into components which match the low skills of migrants and create additional foreign worker jobs which are then shunned by native labor, thus perpetuating a need for such labor. If the US opts for a large-scale guestworker program this will only replace 1 set of problems with another and it is not at all certain that large-scale guestworker admissions will proportionately reduce illegal migration inflows.