Interfirm wage differentials in a local labor market: The case of the fast-food industry

We examine interfirm wage differentials among fast-food restaurants in Atlanta, Georgia to determine the degree to which these differentials correspond to the predictions of competitive theory. While no definitive test is possible, given our inability to control all sources of wage variation, the evidence nevertheless suggests that the wage structure is largely shaped by competitive forces, albeit in a relatively complex manner due to differences in a host of factors that the simple version of the theory holds constant. Evidence is also found, on the other hand, that the supply curve of labor to the individual firm slopes upward for experienced workers and that a small noncompensating wage differential may exist that is related to variation in each restaurant's ability to pay.     

The new men’s movement: Retreat and regression with America’s weekend warriors

The “new” men’s movement, signaled by the popularity of works by Robert Bly and Sam Keen, and the hundreds of weekend “mythopoetic” retreats, indicates a growing restlessness among American men. This essay examines the assumptions and political implications of the mythopoetic men’s movement and presents a feminist-inspired critique. First, we describe the movement’s essentialist assumptions about gender, stressing the ways these assumptions reproduce power inequalities between women and men. Second, we explore the psychoanalytic diagnosis of male malaise and argue that feminist psychoanalysis provides a more compelling case. Third, we explicate the celebration of anthropological initiation rituals and place these rituals within larger cultural contexts of male-female relationships. Fourth, we describe the historical antecedents for the current mythopoetic retreats, suggesting the structural conditions under which fears of feminization of manhood are likely to be expressed. Finally, we discuss the sociology of developmental regression contained within the mythopoetic vision, arguing that what is to be retrieved is not “deep manhood,” but “deep boyhood,” a playfully innocent and romanticized view of masculinity without adult responsibility of work and family. We claim that only by developing an explicitly pro-feminist politics can men’s lives be meaningfully changed. Michael Kaufman, resident fellow at the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) at York University in Toronto, is a founder and originator of the White Ribbon Campaign against violence against women in Canada. His books includeBeyond Patriarchy: Essays by Men on Pleasure, Power and Exchange (Oxford University Press, 1987) andCracking the Armour: Power Pain and the Lives of Men (Viking Canada, 1993).Michael S. Kimmel, associate professor of sociology at SUNY at Stony Brook, is the national spokesperson for the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS). His books includeChanging Men (Sage, 1987),Men’s Lives (Macmillan, 1989; 2nd ed. 1992),Men Confront Pornography (Crown, 1990), andAgainst the Tide: Pro-Feminist Men in the United States, 1776–1990 (Beacon, 1992).     

Social Support Networks and Loneliness Among Elderly Jews in Russia and Ukraine

The collapse of the Soviet Union had devastating consequences for the lives of its population, especially for older adults, many of whom became impoverished and were left with no social support. Using data from a survey of 2,579 elderly Jews in two of the largest countries of the former Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine, we examine variables that affect their feeling of loneliness. Unmarried and childless elderly persons reported the highest feelings of loneliness. Married elderly persons who maintained frequent contact with their children felt least lonely. Moreover, married and unmarried elderly persons who did not maintain frequent contact with relatives or friends were lonelier than those who maintained such contact. The characteristics of social networks were significantly correlated with loneliness. The findings also showed that Jews in Ukraine had fewer social networks and felt lonelier compared to Jews in Russia.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">What do unions do?</Emphasis>—Evaluation and commentary

Most books in the social sciences quietly slip into oblivion soon after publication. Very few remain frequently cited 20 years later and only a handful merit a retrospective symposium. One of these books is Freeman and Medoff’s What Do Unions Do? When it was published, a reviewer (Mitchell, 1985: 253) labeled the book “a landmark in social science research.“ Two decades later this verdict still rings true. The authors of WDUD should be justifiably proud.     

The Ross-Dunlop debate and union wage concessions: A median voter analysis

The Ross-Dunlop debate concerns the extent to which unions take into account the trade-off between wages and employment in formulating their wage demands. This paper develops a median voter model of union behavior that offers a new approach to resolving the Ross-Dunlop debate. The model shows that when the binding constraint on the median union member in the seniority distribution is the threat of layoff, the union will behave as a “Dunlop-type” union; when the binding constraint is the cost of striking, the union will behave as a “Ross-type” union. The model is then applied to the related issue of union wage concessions. Two questions are examined: Under what conditions will a union agree to wage concessions? How large a cut in wages will be accepted?     

Monopoly,efficient contract,and median voter models of union wage determination: A critical comparison

This article critically compares the monopoly, efficient contract, and median voter models of union wage determination. The models are first analyzed with respect to five theoretical issues: the aggregation of preferences, the principal-agent problem, strike costs, dynamics, and incentive compatibility. The models are then compared with regard to their ability to explain two features of union wage/employment determination: the asymmetric response of union wages to demand shocks and the wide variation in the presence of featherbedding restrictions in union contracts. While all three models suffer from significant short-comings, the median voter model is generally superior. The authors acknowledge the helpful comments of Hank Farber and the financial assistance received from the College of Business Administration, Georgia State University.     

Racial discrimination and the social organization of industries

This study investigates the relationship between several factors of the social organization of labor markets and racial discrimination during the late 1960s. Log-linear models are used to obtain indicators of the relative opportunities of black and white men to obtain different occupations across each of 38 industrial segments. We then examine the nature of the relationship between these indicators of discrimination and a number of aspects of industries suggested to be important by various theories of discrimination. The results indicate that relative black opportunities were favorably influenced by government employment, industrial and white collar (but not craft) unionization, and product market power, and they were adversely influenced by profitability and customer preferences for nonretail sales workers. Of particular interest is the finding that, contrary to the hypothesis derived from neoclassical economics, market power had a positive effect on black opportunities.     

The early institutionalists on industrial democracy and union democracy

Conclusion  Today the term “industrial democracy” has a rather quaint sound, at least in the U.S., and is seldom encountered in either academic or practitioner industrial relations. Likewise, the work of the early institutional economists is infrequently cited by modern IR scholars and even less often read. So, one may ask, why re-plow this intellectual ground when it has so long lain fallow?