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| News
and Events Selected for Interest to the IRLE Community |
December
05/January 06 (No. 11) |
Editor: Terence K. Huwe
Contributors: Elizabeth del Rocío Camacho, Janice Kimball
IIR News & Events
Carol Zabin Wins the LERA Susan C. Eaton Award
IIR Faculty Seminar: Alex Mas, December 5, 2005
New IIR Working Papers
IIR Unit News
Labor Center News
California Public Employee Relations News
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment News
Institute of Industrial Relations Library: Services during Renovation
Labor Project for Working Families
Campus Events
Economics Department Seminars
Haas School of Business: OBIR Seminar
Sociology Department Colloquium Series
Carol Zabin Wins the LERA Susan C. Eaton Award
Carol Zabin was selected as a co-winner for the LERA Susan C. Eaton Scholar-Practitioner Research Project Award for 2005. The Center for Labor Research and Education will receive a monetary award to support her research and a plaque that will be presented to her at the LERA annual meeting in Boston this January. Her research will document new labor and consumer strategies to create "better jobs and better care" through unionization in home and community-based long-term care, human services, and early childhood education. Through case studies, interviews and literature review, her analysis will focus on the interrelationship between unionization strategies, the industry structure and political contexts in which the campaigns occur, and the outcomes for workers and consumers.
Congratulations Carol!
IIR Faculty Seminar: December 5, 2005
Alexandre Mas
Professor, Economic Analysis and Policy Group, Haas School of
Business
INFANT MORTALITY AFTER WELFARE REFORM
Noon, IIR Directors Lounge
2521 Channing Way
RSVP: Myra Armstrong, 643-3012, zulu2@berkeley.edu
New IIR Working Papers
Cynthia Bansak and Steven Raphael
"The State Health Insurance Program and Job Mobility: Identifying
Job Lock among Working Parents in Near-Poor Households.”
http://repositories.cdlib.org/iir/iirwps/iirwps-128-05
Abstract:
We use the introduction of the State Children’s Health
Insurance Program (SCHIP) to assess whether the job mobility
and wages of near-poor parents are suppressed through job lock.
We exploit differential take up rates among eligible households
and stratify adults in these household in to quasi-experimental
treatment and control groups. Using data from the 1996 and 2001
Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), we first
identify working adults whose children meet the SCHIP eligibility
criteria. We then separate these workers into two groups: those
with employed spouses who have employer provided coverage in
their own names and those who do not. For the former group,
the introduction of SCHIP is unlikely to relieve job lock since
they already had a viable alternative source of coverage. For
the latter group, however, SCHIP provides an alternative source
of coverage where one previously did not exist. We find a large
significant increase in public coverage rates among the children
of adults who do not have independently insured spouses (on
the order of 10 percentage points). There is no such increase
among adults with insured spouses. Corresponding to these differential
take up rates are differences in the change in job mobility.
Among workers without insured spouses, we observe a 6 percent
point increase in the likelihood that the worker separates from
their current employer within one year after SCHIP is implemented.
We see no comparable change in mobility among those with insured
spouses. This relative pattern survives regression adjustment
for observable demographic characteristics, the household’s
position in the income distribution and a host of other controls.
Finally, we find no effect of the increased mobility on relative
wages.
Arindrajit Dube, Barry Eidlin, and Bill Lester
"Impact
of Wal-Mart Growth on Earnings throughout the Retail Sector
in Urban and Rural Counties"
http://repositories.cdlib.org/iir/iirwps/iirwps-126-05
Abstract:
Using a database of Wal-Mart store openings (from Emek Basker),
and the county level Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages,
we estimate the effect of Wal-Mart on earnings of retail workers
during the 1990’s economic expansion (1992-2000). We exploit
the pattern of Wal-Mart expansion (expanding outward from Arkansas
over time) to predict Wal-Mart store openings, allowing us to
control for endogeneity using both instrumental variable and
control function approaches. We find that in urban counties,
a Wal-Mart store opening led to a 0.5% to 0.8% reduction in
average earnings of workers in the general merchandise sector,
and a 0.8% to 0.9% reduction in average earnings of workers
in the grocery sector. This translated into a combined 1.3%
reduction in total earnings (wage bill) of workers in these
sectors. Endogeneity causes the OLS estimates to be biased downwards
in magnitude, primarily from an omitted variables bias. No earnings
impact was found for rest of the retail sectors or for restaurants
(the latter being an auxiliary test of our identification strategy).
In contrast, in non-MSA (i.e., rural) counties, a Wal-Mart store
opening was associated with an increase in earnings of general
merchandise workers, and a decrease in earnings of grocery workers,
but no significant change in the wage bill. We estimate that
in 2000, total earnings of retail workers nationwide was reduced
by $4.7 billion due to Wal-Mart’s presence.
Marco Leonardi
"Firm Heterogeneity in Capital labor Ratios and Wage Inequality"
http://repositories.cdlib.org/iir/iirwps/iirwps-129-05
Abstract:
This paper documents the increasing dispersion of capital-labor
ratios across firms in the US and provides some empirical evidence
of a positive correlation at the two-digit industry level between
the dispersion of capital-labor ratios across firms and residual
wage inequality. To explain this empirical fact, the paper adopts
a search model where firms differ in their optimal capital investment.
The exogenous decline in the relative price of equipment capital
makes the distributions of capital-labor ratios more dispersed.
In a frictional labor market, this force generates wage dispersion
among identical workers. OLS estimates of the relationship between
capital dispersion and the relative price of equipment capital
support the main hypothesis of the model.
Dylan Riley
"Democratization Within Democracy: Authoritarianism
and Passive Democratization in Spain and Italy.”
http://repositories.cdlib.org/iir/iirwps/iirwps-127-05
Abstract:
What is the connection between civic associationism and political
participation? Recent work in the neo-Tocquevillian traditions
suggest that civic associationism encourages political participation.
In contrast more conservative readings of Tocqueville, and Gramsci's
analysis of civil society, suggest that civic associations tend
to undermine, rather than promote political participation. Indeed
this is one of the major reasons that Tocqueville saw civic
associations as important guarantors of liberty. We investigate
these competing arguments by analyzing the connection between
authoritarian regime type and political participation in Italy
and Spain. The Italian fascist regime sought to eliminate civic
associations of all types, incorporating them systematically
into the party. The Franco regime, in contrast, had no such
ambitions, and left a relationship between civic associationism
and political participation causally, because the "treatment"
is prior to the outcome, and as we will show is connectted to
it through historically specifiable mechanisms. We find, quite
paradoxically from the perspective of the neo-Tocquevillians,
that Italian facism tended to promote political participation
by establishing a pattern of political behavior in which parties
subordinated and instrumentalized civic associations. Spanish
authoritarianism, with its more laissez faire orientation to
civil society, left a legacy of deep political apathy. Paradoxically,
from the perspective of the neo-Tocquevillians, the more 'totalitarian'
fascist regime, produced a more 'participatory' liberal democracy,
than the 'less totalitarian' Franco dictatorship.
IIR Unit News
Labor Center News
Labor Center hosts Chinese Labor Union Leaders for Day
of Discussion
On Monday, November 21, the Labor Center sponsored a day of
roundtable discussions with four leaders of the All China Federation
of Trade Unions, who were visiting California as guests of SEIU.
Topics included job quality, labor standards, and labor campaigns
– using Wal-Mart as a frame.
UPCOMING EVENTS
California Lead Organizers Institute
The Labor Center, in partnership with the Center for Third World
Organizing, will hold its second round of this five-day training
with two follow-up sessions designed for lead organizers. The
2006 Institute is intended for organizers who work with the
Latino community on Latino healthcare issues, and will be conducted
in Spanish and English. The deadline for applications is February
10. It will be held March 13-17, 2006, at the Ben Lomond Center
near Santa Cruz. For information please contact Raahi Reddy
at 510-642-1851 or reddyr@berkeley.edu,
or visit our website: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu.
Funding for this Institute is provided by The California Wellness
Foundation.
C. L. Dellums African American Union Leadership School
IT’S TIME TO REGISTER. The school will consist of eight
Saturday sessions beginning January 28 and ending May 6, 2006.
There will also be three follow-up sessions to assist participants
and to evaluate the usefulness of the program. For information
please contact Steven Pitts at 510-643-6815 or spitts1@berkeley.edu,
or visit our website: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu.
Labor Summer
The Labor Summer program places UC students in paid summer internships
with Bay Area unions and community-based organizations. Union/CBO
applications to host an intern are due February 3, 2006; internship
applications are due March 3, 2006. For information or to apply,
contact Alicia Criado at acriado@berkeley.edu
or 510-642-9316, or visit our website: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu.
Media Skills Workshop
Our previously postponed Media Skills Workshops is now scheduled
for Thursday, January 19 and Friday, January 20, 2006, at the
IIR building, 2521 Channing Way. For information or to register,
contact Alicia Criado at acriado@berkeley.edu
or 510-642-9316, or visit our website: http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu.
California Public Employee Relations News
CPER No. 175 (December 2005) just went to press. In
the first main article, attorney Greg Dannis draws on his many
years of experience at public school negotiating tables to write
about the benefit of identifying and using core values during
the collective bargaining process. The second article is CPER
Editor Carol Vendrillo's informative interview with the current
chairperson of the California Public Employment Relations Board,
John Duncan. He discusses how PERB is handling a smaller budget,
larger responsibilities, and new technology. Other news in this
issue includes teachers' triumphs at the polls, settlement of
the lengthy Santa Cruz bus strike, and how equity increases
are edging out merit pay plans at California State University.
In the next issue of the Labor and Employment Law Journal
of the State Bar is a review of the latest edition of the California
Public Sector Labor Relations (published by NexusLexus/Matthew
Bender), which is edited annually by Carol Vendrillo. In January,
Carol will participate in a program on Alternative Dispute Resolution
at U.C.’s Hastings College of the Law. The program is
sponsored by the Bar Association of California. Carol also will
be attending the Labor Arbitration Institute in San Francisco.
Center for the Study of Child Care Employment
The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment has received
renewed support for 2006 from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
to continue its "Next Steps Project." The project
is currently focused on advising state and local policy makers
on workforce development issues related to the proposed statewide
Preschool For All system for California's four-year-old children.
The Center has also received a grant from the Foundation for
Child Development to write a policy analysis on declining teacher
qualifications and wage stagnation in the early education field
over the past 25 years.
Institute of Industrial Relations Library News
Web Statistics: Monthly Reports Coming Soon
The Socrates.berkeley.edu administrators have made a special
exception so that IIR may receive Web traffic statistics on
a monthly basis. Socrates is not primarily a Web server, but
the fact the IIR’s Web is the top destination on the server
(which includes many other Organized Research Units) makes our
situation extraordinary. Terry will prepare summaries for unit
heads. NOTE: the reports will not show the addresses of individuals
who visit our Web sites—just the aggregate traffic going
to programs, directories and Web pages.
Collection News
The IIR Library collection has now been moved. Renovation on
the Library space will begin after the new year. In the mean
time, our services are ongoing. Here's how to take advantage
of them.
OBTAINING BOOKS AND OTHER MATERIALS
Institute affiliates can still borrow books with open loan period,
but we may need to recall them, as always. To obtain materials,
please contact either Janice or me and we will retrieve the
materials for you.
CONTACT INFO:
Janice: 642-8181, jankim@berkeley.edu
Terry: 643-7061, thuwe@library.berkeley.edu
SEMESTER LOAN DUE DATE: Our fall semester loan period ends DECEMBER
15, 2005. We always appreciate it if IIR affiliates return books
by that date too, if they are done using them.
REFERENCE SERVICE:
Reference service is ongoing, and to obtain our help, just contact
us. Service requests have been constant and frequent, both from
campus and from our community. This indicates that we are alive,
well, widely known to be offering service, and that are patrons
are aware of this. When the Bancroft Library moved, it ceased
all public operations for over 4 months, in comparison.
LIBRARY UPDATES
During the next few weeks, we'll launch a /remodel Web directory
on the library Web, and keep you posted on our progress via
email and eNews.
Labor Project for Working Families News
New Publication Available in Winter 2006
MAKING IT WORK BETTER, a union work/family
curriculum, provides union instructors, facilitators and discussion
leaders with ideas on how to:
Educate union members and leaders on work-family issues;
Advance these issues on the job; and,
Advocate for work-family issues in the community, on the legislative front
and in the public arena
The 3 1/2 hour curriculum contains short modules that can
be incorporated into existing union trainings or used in its
entirety to train bargaining committees, stewards or rank
and file members.
MAKING IT WORK BETTER is designed as a step
by step guide and contains everything needed including group
exercises, a power point presentation, background material
and handouts. It can be customized by industry, union, size
of the group or leadership level of the participants.
Available Winter 2006 at www.laborproject.org
or (510) 643-7088.
Staff News: Twins!
Katya and Frida were born on October 13, 2005 to Labor Project
staff member, Jenya Cassidy. Twins and mom are doing well
and Jenya is taking her paid family leave!
CAMPUS EVENTS
Economics Department Seminars
Economics 218, Psychology and Economic History Seminar
608-7 Evans Hall
Tuesdays
2-3:30:pm
December 6, 2005
Sticking with your vote: cognitive dissonance and voting
Ebonya Washington, Yale University
Economics 221, Industrial Organizational Seminar
608-7 Evans Hall
Tuesdays
4-5:30pm
December 6, 2005
Steven Tadelis, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
December 5, 2005
Measuring Leisure: Evidence from Five Decades of Time Use
Surveys
Erik Hurst, University of Chicago
December 8, 2005
Jonathan Parker, Princeton University
Economics 242. Econometrics Seminar
608-7 Evans Hall
Thursdays
4-6pm
Economics 251, Labor Economics Seminar
608-7 Evans Hall
Thursdays
2-4
December 8, 2005
Layoffs, Lemons, Race and Gender
Luojia Hu, Northwestern University
December 5, 2005
Patience Capital, Occupational Choice, and the Spirit of Capitalism
Matthias Doepke, UCLA
December 5, 2005
Steve Redding, Princeton University
Haas School of Business
OBIR 259
Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations Seminar
135 Cheit Hall, 4-5:30pm
December 7, 2005
Joanne Martin, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Sociology Department Colloquium Series, Fall 2005
Sociology Colloquium Series
Blumer Room
402 Barrows Hall
Thursdays, 4:00 - 5:30 pm
Mondays 2:00 - 3:30pm (occasionally)
December 8, 2005
Emergence: Spontaneous Order in Social Networks
Brian Uzzi, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Business
(Co-Sponsored by the Haas School of Business)
Scope of This Newsletter:
This email newsletter alerts the IRLE community and affiliates
to new resources and upcoming events on labor and employment-related
topics at IRLE, around the campus and beyond the campus. The
goal of this service is to provide you with news at a glance,
with links to Web-based information for further information.
How to Subscribe:
Send a message to thuwe@library.berkeley.edu
expressing an interest in receiving this email publication.
You may also wish to subscribe to our general community email
listserv, available to all interested friends of IRLE. This
list is called iirucbnews@lists.berkeley.edu. Please indicate
if you wish to be added to that list in your message.
Tell Us About Your Events
If you know of an event that you’d like to share with
the IRLE community, send a brief description (and Web link)
to thuwe@library.berkeley.edu.
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