Award-Winning Economists Speak on Contemporary Economic Issues 2013-14

“Award-Winning Economists Speak on Contemporary Economic Issues” Lectures will be held in 2028 Brown Hall from 3-4:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. This year’s Sichel Series is directed by Professor Jean Kimmel and is co-sponsored by WMU’s College of Arts and Sciences and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Speakers: Erica Field “Making Microfinance Work”, Nancy Folbre “The Once (But No Longer) Golden Age of Human Capital”, Avner Greif “Economic Development from a Historical Perspective: The Origin and Nature of Good Institutions”, David Kreps “The Economics and Psychology of Worker Motivation”, Michael Piore “Efficient and Effective Economic Regulation in a Confusing Technological Environment”, David Card “Economics of Immigration Reform”

Toward a Third Industrial Divide?

Introduction: The Second Divide Revisited The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity was written in another time of great despair about the future of the American economy. Michael Piore and Charles Sabel described the mid-eighties in terms that seem to fit our own predicament: “The times are troubled indeed when thegood news is almost indistinguishable from the bad. Economic downturns no longer seem mere interruptions in the march to greater prosperity; rather they threaten to destroy the world markets on which economic success has depended since the end of World War II. Meanwhile, upturns avert disaster without solving the problems of unemployment and slow growth, which have become chronic in almost all the advanced countries. No theory seems able to explain recent events, let alone predict what will happen next.” (Piore and Sabel 1984, p. 3)

Industrial Relations System Transformation

This paper analyzes the concept of “transformation” that many allege has occurred recently in a wide variety of national industrial relations systems. After a summary of the debate, with particular reference to the contentious case of Germany, the authors attempt to develop a definition of industrial relations system transformation on the basis of biological analogies and, in particular, the “punctuated equilibrium” theory. They examine the cases of the United States, Sweden, South Africa, and New Zealand, and conclude that the application of the biological frameworks raises a set of fundamental questions that must be addressed in order for the debate over the existence of industrial relations transformation to move forward

Alien Migration from Mexico: the Search for an Appropriate Theory and Policy

Volume 1 - Paper #14_14AlienMigrationfromMexico.pdf: 407 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Immigrant Labor and the Issue of “Dirty Work” in Advanced Industrial Societies

[Excerpt] Of the multiple explanations for the post-World War II immigration experiences of those advanced industrial nations where the phenomena occurred, the most pernicious has been that immigrants are needed to do the dirty work. Despite the fact that efforts to characterize the general employment patterns of immigrants in different industrial societies has proved frustrating, Michael Piore observed in 1979 that the only immigrant jobs that seem common throughout the industrial world are menial jobs . Likewise, much of the debate in the United States that preceded the enactment of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of, 1986 (IRCA) centered on the efficacy of the assertion that the United States economy actually needed illegal immigrants to fill certain menial jobs that would not otherwise be filled. The general thesis of efforts made to explain these tendencies has been that the structure of labor markets changes over time. As advanced industrial societies have evolved over the past two centuries from being agriculturally based societies, their occupational opportunities have become considerably more diverse. Nonetheless, some labor economists have argued that, by the late twentieth century, many of these societies have sustained perceptible patterns of job clustering. They have witnessed the creation of a dual labor market. Under this analysis, these economies generate both primary sector jobs (i.e., jobs characterized as having high wages, good fringe benefits, job security, and promotion opportunities) and secondary sector jobs (i.e., jobs characterized as having low wages, few fringe benefits, little security, and are of a dead-end nature). The relevant question, therefore, has been how do these advanced societies find workers to fill these secondary sector jobs

The Participation of Mexican Workers in the Labor Market of the United States

Volume 1 - Paper #13_13TheparticipationofMexicanWorkers.pdf: 1959 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

International Human Resource Studies: A Framework for Future Research

[Excerpt] The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for research in a broadened and redefined field of international human resource studies. Interest in international aspects of human resource management (HRM) and policy has increased markedly in recent years\u27. This should not be surprising, given the growing importance of international economic activity in general, and, in particular, the increased mobility of technology, capital, and human resources across national boundaries. We are concerned that current research falling under this label is both too narrowly conceived and ignores important work from allied areas and disciplines. We also believe that the theoretical appeal and practical value of this work would be strengthened by includng contributions from a broader array of scholars, policy makers, and practitioners who share interests in employment and industrial relations issues

The Career of Vernon Briggs, Jr.: A Liberal Economist’s Struggle to Reduce Immigration

[Excerpt] At the conclusion of Cornell’s spring semester in 2007, Briggs ended his 47 years of college teaching. As he retired, Cornell honored him with emeritus status. Since then, he has occasionally given public talks and written articles on the need for immigration reform. He says his work still draws motivation from a principle he left with his students at the end of the last lecture in each of his classes over his entire career: “The mode through which the impossible comes to pass is effort.” That quote from Justice Oliver Wendell Homes was passed on to Briggs by Michigan State University professor Charles Killingsworth. In his long, remarkable career, Briggs has honored Holmes, Killingsworth, and his profession by passing it on — in word and deed — to countless others

Apples and oranges revisited : contextualized comparisons and the study of comparative labor politics

"November 1994."Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-36).Richard M. Locke and Kathleen Thelen

[Review of the book \u3ci\u3eSustainable Prosperity in the New Economy? Business Organization and High-Tech Employment in the United States\u3c/i\u3e]

[Excerpt] Best known as a business and economic historian, William (Bill) Lazonick may often escape the view of academics in human resource studies, organizational behavior, and labor relations. This is a mistake. Lazonick\u27s new book, Sustainable Prosperity in the New Economy?, is a must-read for scholars and students in these fields. He has chosen to study an important problem in the real world, has marshaled detailed empirical evidence to support his argument, and has used this evidence to critique conventional theory in economics and management