Is the U.S. unique in the decline of private sector unionism?

The U.S. is not unique in the decline of private sector unionism. Contrary to assertions of the “unique school,” unionism in the private sectors of Canada and Western Europe has also declined and for the same reason, structural changes in the labor market. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.” Sherlock Holmes. I acknowledge in particular the critique of my colleague, Neil Sheflin. I thank, too, for their useful comments, Larry Adams of the U.S. Department of Labor, Noah Meltz, of the University of Toronto, Alexander Troy, and my colleagues Jack Cullity, Stanley Kaish, and Peter Loeb. I appreciate the research support received from the Research Council, the International Program, and the Dean of the Graduate School — Newark of Rutgers University.     

Testing the Innis and McLuhan Theses: Mennonite Media Access and TV Use*

L'impact de la société moderne sur l'identité et les traditions ethniques a été très documenté. Une quantité considérable de recherches portant sur un large éventail de groupes ethniques ont traité de la relation entre l'ethnicité au Canada et le processus de modernisation. Le but de cet article est de voir dans quelle mesure les médias sont un indicateur de l'impact de la modernisation chez les Mennonites, au Canada et aux États-Unis. The impact of modern society on ethnic identity and ethnic traditions has been widely documented. A substantial body of research involving a wide range of ethnic groups has dealt with the relationship between ethnicity in Canada and the processes of modernization. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which exposure to the mass media is an indicator of the impact of modernization on Mennonites in Canada and the United States.     

Redistribution and assimilation of ethnic populations: The Los Angeles case

Redistribution relative to metropolitan growth of Negro, other non-white and Spanish name populations is examined in Los Angeles County from 1940 to 1960 for a comparable grid of subareas. The subareas are defined relative to their maturity at different time points in order to partially control for population redistribution effects of neighborhood life histories, the spread of older subareas, and the persistence of neighborhood patterns. Shifts in ethnic concentration are shown for both older and newer subareas. Concurrent changes in neighborhood social structures and ethnic populations are described. Findings are categorized under three themes: First, ethnic population increments and redistribution were generally restricted to expanding older subareas. Ethnic populations did not spatially expand at a rate equal to the spread of the metropolis or of older subareas. Second, segregation is greater in both older and newer neighborhoods for Negroes than for other ethnic populations. Negroes experienced the largest proportional increments in both older and newer subareas, as well as the greatest stability in subarea occupancy. Finally, the spatial separation of ethnic populations impedes assimilation in that unique patterns of neighborhood structure come to characterize different ethnic populations, and changes in ethnic composition are reflected in changes in neighborhood social structures.     

ADAPTING THE QFD APPROACH TO EXTENDED SERVICE TRANSACTIONS

This paper proposes an adaptation of quality function deployment (qfd) for services, more specifically extended service transactions. We propose two modifications to service applications of Qfd. One is the inclusion of higher-level customer needs (consequences, benefits, experiences, and personal values) to incorporate the experiential and personal nature of extended service transactions into the process. The second modification is to use customers' knowledge and expertise regarding service production and delivery as input beyond the house of quality. An interviewing method is proposed for a comprehensive assessment of customer needs at multiple levels. Results from an empirical application of this technique to luxury business hotels support the proposed modifications to Qfd to increase its potential for application to services.     

Doubly disadvantaged: Unemployment,young age,and electoral participation in the United Kingdom

Previous studies examine how unemployment affects socio-political behaviour, but this literature has scarcely focused on the role of the life-course. Integrating the frameworks of unemployment scarring and political socialisation, we posit that unemployment experiences, or scars, undermine electoral participation, and that this is exacerbated at younger ages. We test these hypotheses relying on the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society datasets (1991–2020), employing panel data analysis approaches as Propensity Score Matching, Individual Fixed Effects, and Individual Fixed Effects with Individual Slopes. Results suggest that unemployment experiences depress electoral participation in the UK, with effect sizes around −5% of a Standard Deviation in turnout. However, this effect varies powerfully by age: the impact of unemployment on electoral participation is stronger at younger ages (−21% SD at age 20), and weaker to not significant after age 35. This is robust across the three main approaches and several robustness checks. Further analyses show that the first unemployment spell matters the most for electoral participation, and that for individuals under 35, there is a scar effect lasting up to 5 years after the first unemployment spell. The life-course emerges as central to better understand the relationship between labour market hardships and socio-political behaviour.