State — Region — Branch — Enterprise: System Sustainability Framework of the Russian Economy

This paper investigates sustainability factors of the Russian economy as a multi-level, multi-entity and multi-aspect socio-economic system from the system perspective. The economic system sustainability concept is formulated as an ability to maintain preconditions for the development by supporting and effective using of economic system structure. The leading role of the community of economic entities at different levels (including the state as the entity of international relations, regions as the entities of Federation, enterprises as the business entities) in the economic sustainability is demonstrated. The necessity of the economic entity network “extension” by strengthening the sustainability of economic sectors is emphasized. The research into the internal basic system structure of an economic entity and external structure of its immediate surroundings in socio-economic, administrative-and-managerial and market environments using the results of the new economic systems theory contributes the evidence of the similarity of these structures to the conclusion. It is shown that each of the systems includes (together with an entity itself) four systems of different types (object, environment, process and project). The entity’s system environment has the same structure in administrative-and-managerial interlevel interactions. This makes it possible to combine the problem of the entity’s sustainability and the issue of the balanced system structures forming the economic entities’ internal and external environments. The method of calculating the index of such balanced systems is given. Recommendations on the selection of economic policy measures aimed at ensuring system sustainability of the Russian economy in the period of crisis are provided. It is shown that such a policy should be carried out in accordance with the principles of economic entity protection; balanced system of the economic entities’ internal and external environment; economic entities’ corporate solidarity regardless of their level in the management hierarchy.This article is supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant, project No. 14-18-02294

A New Theory of Economic Systems and Its Application to Economic Policy Studies

The basics of a new theory of economic systems are proposed in this article as a fundamental synthetic field of economics. This theory proposes to unify a description of economic phenomena usually studied by different areas of economics: economic agents, i.e., legal and physical entities, formal and informal institutions, economic processes, and projects. A basic classification of economic systems is developed, their key functions are defined, and the need for power parity of the basic types of economic systems is proved. The results obtained are used to classify the types of national economic policy and elaborate measures aimed at preventing crisis phenomena and building a well-balanced economy.

The Prevalence and Effects of Occupational Licensing

This study provides the first nation-wide analysis of the labor market implications of occupational licensing for the U.S. labor market, using data from a specially designed Gallup survey. We find that in 2006, 29 percent of the workforce was required to hold an occupational license from a government agency, which is a higher percentage than that found in studies that rely on state-level occupational licensing data. Workers who have higher levels of education are more likely to work in jobs that require a license. Union workers and government employees are more likely to have a license requirement than are nonunion or private sector employees. Our multivariate estimates suggest that licensing has about the same quantitative impact on wages as do unions – that is about 15 percent, but unlike unions which reduce variance in wages, licensing does not significantly reduce wage dispersion for individuals in licensed jobs.occupational licensing, regulation, wages

The Impact Of New Unionization On Wages And Working Conditions: A Longitudinal Study Of Establishments Under NLRB Elections

This study investigates the impact of union organization on the wages and labor practices of establishments newly organized in the 1980s using a research design in which establishments are 'paired' with their closest nonunion competitor. There are two major findings. First. unionism had only a modest effect on wages in the newly organized plants, which contrasts sharply with the huge union wage impact found in cross-section comparisons of union and nonunion individuals on Current Population Survey and related data tapes. Second, in contrast co its modest impact on wages, new unionization substantially altered several personnel practices. creating grievance systems, greater seniority protection. and job bidding and posting. That newly organized establishments adopt union working conditions but grant only modest increases in wages suggests that 'collective voice' rather than monopoly wage gains is the key to understanding what unionism does in the economy.

Do Unions Make Enterprises Insolvent?

This study investigates the impact of unionization and firm, business line, or establishment survival. A consistent empirical finding is that unions raise wages above those found in nonunion firms, and that in a competitive product market one would expect to find that unionized firms would go out of business more than nonunion firms. However, if unions engage in economic rent-sharing, then during periods of economic hardship unionized firms may be able to remain solvent by giving back some of these rents. In order to answer this question we analyze three data sets: a data set on the union status of solvent and insolvent enterprises and business lines from the Compustat files, a data set on the union status of workers who have lost their jobs due to permanent plant closures or business failures obtained by matching files from Current Population Survey, and a data set from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on the outcomes of elections won by unions and on the outcomes of labor- management dispute cases. Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that unions behave in an economically rational manner, pushing wages to the point where union firms may expand less rapidly than nonunion firms, but not to the point where the firm, plant, or business line closes down.

The Prevalence and Effects of Occupational Licensing

This study provides the first nation-wide analysis of the labor market implications of occupational licensing for the U.S. labor market, using data from a specially designed Gallup survey. We find that, in 2006, 29 percent of the workforce was required to hold an occupational license from a government agency, which is a higher percentage than that found in studies that rely on state-level occupational licensing data. Workers who have higher levels of education are more likely to work in jobs that require a license. Union workers and government employees are more likely to have a license requirement than are nonunion or private sector employees. Our multivariate estimates suggest that licensing has about the same quantitative impact on wages as do unions—that is about 15 percent, but unlike unions which reduce variance in wages, licensing does not significantly reduce wage dispersion for individuals in licensed jobs.

Analyzing the Extent and Influence of Occupational Licensing on the Labor Market

This study examines the extent and influence of occupational licensing in the U.S. using a specially designed national labor force survey. Specifically, we provide new ways of measuring occupational licensing and consider what types of regulatory requirements and what level of government oversight contribute to wage gains and variability. Estimates from the survey indicated that 35 percent of employees were either licensed or certified by the government, and that 29 percent were fully licensed. Another 3 percent stated that all who worked in their job would eventually be required to be certified or licensed, bringing the total that are or eventually must be licensed or certified by government to 38 percent. We find that licensing is associated with about 18 percent higher wages, but the effect of governmental certification on pay is much smaller. Licensing by larger political jurisdictions is associated with the higher wage gains relative to only local licensing. We find little association between licensing and the variance of wages, in contrast to unions. Overall, our results show that occupational licensing is an important labor market phenomenon that can be measured in labor force surveys.occupational licensing, United States, Labor force, wage variance

Employer Behavior in the Face of Union Organizing Drives

The direct role of employers in union organizing has long been a neglected part of the union organizing literature. In this study we examine the determinants and consequences of employer behavior when faced with an organizing drive. Our principal substantive findings are: - that there is a substitution between high wages/benefits/good work conditions/supervisory practices and "tough" management opposition to unionism. - that a high innate propensity for a union victory deters management opposition, while some indicators of a low propensity also reduce opposition. - that "positive industrial relations" raise the chances the firm will defeat the union in an election, as does bringing in consultants and having supervisors campaign intensely against the union. - that the careers of managers whose wages/supervisory practices/ benefits lead to union organizing drives, much less to union victories, suffer as a result. In general we interpret our results as consistent with the notion that firms behave in a profit maximizing manner in opposing an organizing drive and with the basic proposition that management opposition, reflected in diverse forms of behavior, is a key component in the on-going decline in private sector unionism in the United States.