Small Firms, Employment, and Federal Policy

[Excerpt] It is widely believed that small firms promote job growth. In fact, small firms both create and eliminate far more jobs than large firms do. On balance, they account for a disproportionate share of net job growth—however, that greater net growth is driven primarily by the creation of new small firms, frequently referred to as start-ups, rather than by the expansion of mature small firms. The greater net job-creation rates associated with new small firms could motivate lawmakers to consider supporting such firms through various policy initiatives. However, policies specifically favoring small firms have both advantages and disadvantages. For instance, policies designed to prevent discrimination or reduce pollution would probably have smaller adverse effects on employment if they exempted small firms in those cases where compliance was particularly costly for small firms. Conversely, some policies CBO has examined that would increase employment, such as reducing payroll taxes for firms that hire additional workers, would be less cost-effective if they were restricted to small firms. Under current federal laws and regulations, small firms already receive more favorable treatment than large firms do in many areas. For example, certain provisions of the tax code relating to capital gains and the expensing of capital investments favor small firms. The Small Business Administration (SBA) helps small firms obtain loans. And many regulatory policies, such as those prescribed by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, include exemptions for small firms. Because further efforts to favor small firms may shift employment away from large firms in an inefficient manner, broadly targeted policies may spur total employment more effectively

Unemployment Insurance Benefits and Family Income of the Unemployed

[Excerpt] The unemployment insurance (UI) program provides a weekly benefit to qualified workers who lose their job and are actively seeking work. The amount of that benefit is based in part on a worker’s past earnings. The composition of the worker’s family and the income of the family as a whole are not generally taken into account. Nevertheless, the worker’s whole family is likely to be affected both by the spell of unemployment itself and by the support that the UI benefit provides. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) examined the role of UI benefits in supporting the income of families in which at least one person was unemployed at some point in 2009. The analysis addressed how that role varied with the amount of family income and the number of weeks of unemployment for all family members. CBO also examined how the poverty rate and related indicators of financial hardship would have differed in the absence of the UI program

Global wage trends and wage policy developments in selected countries - Wage policies, productivity growth and employment

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.ILO_GlobalWageTrendsandWagePolicyDevelopments.pdf: 1077 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

C159 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation, having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office and having met in its Sixty-ninth Session on 1 June 1983.no__159_Conventions_no__9.pdf: 193 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

How Slower Growth in the Labor Force Could Affect the Return on Capital

[Excerpt] The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) produces regular reports on the state of the U.S. economy as well as 10-year and long-term projections of the nation’s budget and economic outlook. In those analyses, CBO examines a range of developments that could have short- or longer-term consequences for the budget and the economy. In the decades to come, one such development will be a slowing of the rate of growth of the labor force. That projected slowdown is expected to occur because of lower fertility rates, the leveling off of a sizable increase in women’s labor force participation, and the aging and retirement of large numbers of baby boomers. Although slower growth in the workforce might affect the U.S. economy in many ways, this background paper focuses on what could happen in just one area: the rate of return paid on assets such as stocks and bonds. A number of theoretical models and simulations suggest that slower growth in the supply of labor could lead to lower rates of return, although that effect could be offset by rising budget deficits, capital outflows, or other factors. A decline in rates of return could have a significant effect on the federal budget through its impact on interest payments. In addition, a shift in the rate of return (and related shifts in wages) would alter the long-term outlook for the Social Security program

Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output in 2013

[Excerpt] The effects of ARRA on output peaked in the first half of 2010 and have since diminished, CBO estimates. The effects of ARRA on employment are estimated to lag slightly behind the effects on output; CBO estimates that the employment effects began to wane at the end of 2010 and continued to do so through 2013. Although CBO has examined data on output and employment during the period since ARRA’s enactment, those data are not as helpful in determining ARRA’s economic effects as might be supposed because isolating the effects would require knowing what path the economy would have taken in the absence of the law. Because that path cannot be observed, the new data add only limited information about ARRA’s impact

Private-Sector Mandates in Federal Legislation

Federal laws and regulations sometimes require non-federal entities to expend their resources to carry out national policies. The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), enacted as Public Law 104-4, defines many of those requirements as federal mandates. The law aims to ensure that Members of Congress receive information about the potential effects of mandates as they consider proposed legislation and that federal agencies take information about mandates into account as they weigh proposed regulations. To that end, UMRA requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), at certain points in the legislative process, to assess the cost of mandates that would apply to state, local, and tribal governments or to the private sector; it also requires most federal agencies to estimate those costs and other effects in the course of promulgating regulations to implement such mandates. This report describes CBO’s role in assessing the impact of private-sector mandates during the legislative process and provides information about the private-sector mandates that have become law during the past decade

The Faculty Notebook, September 1999

The Faculty Notebook is published periodically by the Office of the Provost at Gettysburg College to bring to the attention of the campus community accomplishments and activities of academic interest. Faculty are encouraged to submit materials for consideration for publication to the Associate Provost for Faculty Development. Copies of this publication are available at the Office of the Provost

The Faculty Notebook, September 2007

The Faculty Notebook is published periodically by the Office of the Provost at Gettysburg College to bring to the attention of the campus community accomplishments and activities of academic interest. Faculty are encouraged to submit materials for consideration for publication to the Associate Provost for Faculty Development. Copies of this publication are available at the Office of the Provost

The Faculty Notebook, May 1998

The Faculty Notebook is published periodically by the Office of the Provost at Gettysburg College to bring to the attention of the campus community accomplishments and activities of academic interest. Faculty are encouraged to submit materials for consideration for publication to the Associate Provost for Faculty Development. Copies of this publication are available at the Office of the Provost