The Labour Market in the New Information Economy

The extension of information and communication technologies to economic activity ischanging the labour market in important ways. This article shows that computerization anduse of the Internet are associated with greater hours worked as well as higher wages; that IToccupations are rapidly increasing their share of employment; that job search and recruitmentare moving rapidly to the Web, with consequences for matching employers and employees;and possibly most important of all, that trade unions have begun to use the Internet as a toolfor servicing members and carrying their message to the public, raising the possibility of amajor change in the nature of the union movement.

Labor Market Institutions Around the World

This paper documents the large cross-country differences in labor institutions that make them a candidate explanatory factor for the divergent economic performance of countries and reviews what economists have learned about the effects of these institutions on economic outcomes. It identifies three ways in which institutions affect economic performance: by altering incentives, by facilitating efficient bargaining, and by increasing information, communication, and trust. The evidence shows that labor institutions reduce the dispersion of earnings and income inequality, which alters incentives, but finds equivocal effects on other aggregate outcomes, such as employment and unemployment. Given weaknesses in the crosscountry data on which most studies focus, the paper argues for increased use of micro-data, simulations, and experiments to illuminate how labor institutions operate and affect outcomes.labour market, unemployment

Are European Labor Markets As Awful As All That?

"The standard explanation of why advanced Europe has generated less work per adult thanthe US is that something is seriously amiss with EU labor markets. The theme of this piece issimple. Compared to an ideal competitive market, EU labor markets fall seriously short, butcompared to labor markets in the US and to other markets in advanced capitalist countries,EU labor markets do not live up to their awful press. The variety of labor market institutionsamong EU countries, moreover, reveals a much richer picture of performance and diversitythan the blanket condemnation of inflexibility suggests. I make my case in four propositions,with supporting evidence. My comparisons are with the actual labor market in the US andwith other real world markets, not with the economists' dream ideal competitive markets. Ireview briefly the evidence that labor markets in the EU have performed worse on thequantity side of the market but better on the price or wage side of the market than the USlabor market, then consider the extent to which differences in outcomes are attributable todifferences in the performance of labor markets."labour markets, US, EU, labour market institutions

Unionism, Price-Cost Margins, and the Return to Capital

This paper examines available industry data on two profitability measures, the price-cost margin and the ratio of quasi-rents to capital, for the purpose of determining the effect of unionism on profits. It finds that unionism reduces profitability and that this effect occurs in highly concentrated industries. The effect of unionism is quite substantial in most calculations, suggesting that the fraction organized in a sector be included in standard Industrial Organization profitability calculations in the future.

The Effect of the Union Wage Differential on Management Opposition and Union Organizing Success

This paper argues that under current U.S. institutional arrangements, in which managements opposition to unions is as important as workers and unions,the magnitude of the union wage premium actually reduces organization rather than increasing it. It reduces organizing success by lowering profits, thus giving management a greater incentive to oppose unions. It shows that in the traditional monopoly model, any given premium can cause management to donate more resources to opposing a union than workers will donate to organizing. Empirical evidence from NLRB elections supports the model in which larger premiums induce greater opposition and thus reduce union organizing success.

On the Divergence in Unionism among Developed Countries

In this paper I explore the evolution of unionism in the 1970n and 1980s, when the post-oil shock world economy created a "crisis of unionism" throughout the western world. I try to explain why union representation of work forces fell in some countries but not in others and contrast union responses to the challenge of the period. I find that: -- Rates of unionization diverged greatly among developed countries -- The composition of union members shifted from private sector blue collar workers to public sector end white collar workers in all countries, producing increased divisions within union movements by category of worker -- Changes in the industrial composition of employment, changes in public attitudes toward unionism, and the growth of governmental protection of labor do not explain the divergence in density -- Differing rates of inflation contributed to the divergence, with unions doing better in countries with high inflation. In addition, unemployment raised density in settings where unions disperse unemployment benefits -- The primary reason for the divergence are differences in the incentives and opportunities different industrial relations systems give employers to oppose unions. Unions fared best in neo-corporatist settings and worst in settings where decentralized bargaining creates a strong profit incentive for managers to oppose unions and where management is relatively free to act on that incentive -- Union organizations and modes of operating changed significantly in some countries with declining or endangered unionism but not in others Most strikingly, my analysis indicates that if 1980s trends continue the west will be divided between countries with strong trade union movements operating in a neo-corporatist system, as in Scandinavia, and countries with 'ghetto unionism' limited to special segments of the work force, as in the United States.

The US Economic Model at Y2K: Lodestar for Advanced Capitalism?

The 1990s economic performance of the US suggests that the country may have the right mix of institutions and policies to be the peak capitalist economy in the new information economy. This paper develops criterion for judging peak status and examines whether the US fulfills these criterion. The US's employment and productivity performance make it a legitimate candidate for peak, but the record in distribution does not. As the late 1990s boom raised the wages of low skill workers, continued full employment will greatly strengthen the case for the US as peak economy. But with anything less than full employment the US economy will lose its luster. Even if this occurs, however, the US record in employing women and extending ownership to many workers deserves attention.