Management > Human Resources > Urban Labor Markets and Employment Policy

Urban Labor Markets and Employment Policy posted by duggu on 12/9/2007

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Abstract/Syllabus

Courseware/Lectures

Test/Tutorials

Course Highlights

This course features a reading list as well as a student version of notes from class discussions.

Course Description

This subject discusses the broader trends in the labor market, how urban labor markets function, public and private training policy, other labor market programs, the link between labor market policy and economic development, and the organization of work within firms.

Syllabus

Course Overview

This course combines an examination of how urban labor markets work, and how employment patterns are shifting in the United States, with a consideration of public policy. In the first part of the course we examine the distribution of labor market outcomes (wages and job security), shifts in the organization of work within firms (e.g. teams and contingent work), how jobs are found in urban labor markets and the role of networks, and the situation of specific groups such as women and immigrants. We then turn to public policy and consider a variety of issues regarding job training, the link between economic development and labor market policy, living wage campaigns, unions, and welfare reform. The course will be organized around readings and discussion with only occasional lectures. For this to work, all students will need to come to class having done the readings and prepared to discuss them.

Course Requirements

Prior to each class each student should send me a one page e-mail indicating what, based on the readings, are the important questions we need to discuss that day.
A substantial policy analysis project on a topic relevant to the course. This project could involve such things as critically examining an element of employment and training policy in Massachusetts, describing and making recommendations regarding the current Federal discussion on reorganizing the employment and training system, looking at the problems of a particular labor market group in depth, etc. Each student will prepare a substantial paper and will present it to the class towards the end of the course. If several students want to work on a project together that is acceptable on the assumption, of course, that the scope of the project will expand accordingly.

Grading

Course grading.
activities	percentages
Class Participation	50%
Paper	50%

The Readings

During the course you will also be asked to read Securing Prosperity and Gathering Power. These books can be found with the following information:

Osterman, Paul. Securing Prosperity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000. ISBN: 0691086885.

———. Gathering Power. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2003. ISBN 0807043389.

Calendar

Course calendar.
Lec #	Topics
1	Introduction
2	Thinking About Policy in Broad Terms and Outcomes
3	The Demand for Labor
4	Changing Work Structures Within Firms / Internal Labor Markets, Networks, Structure
5	Policy Overview and Alternative National Systems
6	The Evaluation: An Overview Youth Labor Market
7	Adult Training
8	Unions and Living Wage Campaigns
9	Organizing and Pulling It Together
10-11	Student Papers

Further Reading:

Course readings.
Lec #	topics	readings
1	Introduction
2	Thinking About Policy in Broad Terms and Outcomes	Thinking About Policy in Broad Terms Weir, M., A. Orloff, and T. Skocpol, eds. "Understanding American Social Politics." In The Politics of Social Policy in the United States. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998. ISBN: 0691028419. Korpi, W. "Approaches to the Study of Poverty in the United States, Critical Notes From A European Perspective." Poverty and Public Policy. Edited by Vincent Covello. Rochester, VT: Schenkman Books, 1980. ISBN: 0870738895. Lindbeck, A. "Overshooting, Reform, and the Retreat of the Welfare State." In The Welfare State: The Selected Essays of Assar Lindbeck. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 1993. ISBN: 185278721X. Blank, R. Social Protection vs. Economic Flexibility: Is There A Tradeoff? Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1994, Introduction, and chapter 1. ISBN: 0226056783. Outcomes Osterman, P., T. Kochan, M. Piore, and R. Locke. Working In America. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002, chapter 2. ISBN: 0262650622. Osterman, P. Securing Prosperity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000, chapter 1, and 2. ISBN: 0691086885.
3	The Demand for Labor	Howell, D. "The Skills Myth." The American Prospect, Summer 1994, 81-90. Levy, F. and R. Murnane. "Honda of America and Northwestern Mutual Life." In Teaching the New Basic Skills. New York, NY: Free Press, 1996. ISBN: 0684827395 Cappelli, P. "Is the 'Skills Gap' Really About Attitudes?" California Business Review (Summer 1995). Johnson, G. "Changes In Earnings Inequality: The Role of Demand Shifts." Journal of Economic Perspectives (Spring 1997): 41-54. Holzer, H., J. Lane, and L. Vilhuber. "Escaping Low Earnings: The Role of Employer Characteristics and Changes." Industrial and Labor Relations Review (July 2004).
4	Changing Work Structures Within Firms / Internal Labor Markets, Networks, Structure	Changing Work Structures Within Firms Osterman, P. Securing Prosperity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000, chapter 1, 2, and 4. ISBN: 0691086885. Houseman, S. "Flexible Staffing Arrangements." Working Paper. Kalamazoo, MI: W. E. UpJohn Institute of Employment in the United States, 1999. Internal Labor Markets, Networks, Structure Osterman, P., ed. "Introduction." In Internal Labor Markets. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1984. ISBN: 0262150263. Piore, M. "Notes for A Theory of Labor Market Stratification." MIT Working Paper. Department of Economics, 1972. Newman, K. No Shame In My Game. New York, NY: Vintage Press, 2000, chapters 3, and 6. ISBN: 0375703799.
5	Policy Overview and Alternative National Systems	Weir, M. Politics and Jobs. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993, chapter 3, and 4. ISBN: 0691024928. America's Choice: High Skills or Low Wages. National Center on Education and Economy, 1990, Executive Summary, and chapters 2 and 12. ISBN: 0962706302. Heckman, J., and A. Krueger. Inequality In America: What Role for Human Capital Policies? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004, pp. 1-76. ISBN: 0262083280. Osterman, P. Employment Futures. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1988, chapter 6. ISBN: 019505279X.
6	The Evaluation: An Overview Youth Labor Market	The Evaluation Literature: An Overview Friedlander, D., D. Greenberg, and P. Robins. "Evaluating Government Training Programs for the Economically Disadvantaged." Journal of Economic Literature 34, no. 4 (1997): 1809-1855. Youth Labor Market Osterman, P. "Is There A Problem With The Youth Labor Market, And If So How Should We Fix It?" In Poverty, Inequality, and The Future of Social Policy. Edited by Katherine McFate, Roger Lawson, and William Julius Wilson. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation Publications, 1996. ISBN: 0871545934. Soskice, D. "Reconciling Markets and Institutions: The German Apprenticeship System." In Training and the Private Sector. Edited by Lynch. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1994. ISBN: 0226498107. Bailey, T. "Can Youth Apprenticeship Thrive in the United States?" Educational Researcher (April 1993): 4-10. Stern, D., et al. School To Work. London, UK: The Falmer Press, 1995, chapters 2, and 3. ISBN: 0750704292.
7	Adult Training	Fitzgerald, J., and V. Carlson. "Ladders To A Better Life." The American Prospect, 19 June 2000. Giloth, R., ed. "Introduction," "Poppe, Shawn, and Martison," "Kazis," "Carnevale," and "Berry." Chapters 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 in Workforce Intermediaries In the Twenty-First Century. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2003. ISBN: 1592132049. Clark, P., and S. Dawson. Jobs and the Urban Poor. Aspen, CO: Aspen Institute, 2005, pp. 1-33. (PDF) Conway, M., and S. Loker. "Garment Industry Development Corporation: A Case Study of a Sectoral Employment Development Approach." Working Paper. Aspen, CO: Aspen Institute, 1999. Glasmeier, A., C. Nelson, and J. Thompson. "Jane Addams Resource Corp: A Case Study of a Sectoral Employment Development Approach." Working Paper. Aspen, CO: Aspen Institute, 1999. Rangarajan, A. "Staying On, Moving Up: Strategies to Help Low Wage Workers Retain Employment and Advance in Their Jobs." Working Paper. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research, 2000. Strawn, J., and K. Martinson. "Promoting Access to Better Jobs: Lessons for Job Advancement From Welfare Reform." In Low-Wage Workers in the New Economy. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press, 2001. ISBN: 0877667055. Teitz, M. "Neighborhood Economies: Local Communities and Regional Labor Markets." Economic Development Quarterly, May 1989. Porter, M. "The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City." Harvard Business Review (May/June 1995).
8	Unions and Living Wage Campaigns	Unions Turner, B. "Union Innovations: Moving Workers from Poverty into Family Sustaining Jobs." In Low Wage Workers in the New Economy. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press, 2001. ISBN: 0877667055. Erickson, C. "Justice for Janitors in Los Angeles." British Journal of Industrial Relations 40 (April 2002): 543-567. Osterman, P., T. Kochan, M. Piore, and R. Locke. Working In America. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002, chapter 4. ISBN: 0262650622. Living Wage Campaigns Freeman, R. "Fighting For Other Folks' Wages: The Logic of Living Wage Campaigns." Forthcoming issue of Industrial Relations. Brenner, M. "The Economic Impact of the Boston Living Wage Ordinance." Forthcoming issue of Industrial Relations. Adams, S., and D. Neumark. "When Do Living Wages Bite?" Forthcoming issue of Industrial Relations.
9	Organizing and Pulling It Together	Organizing Osterman, P. Gathering Power, The Future of Progressive Politics In America. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2003, chapters 2, and 5. ISBN: 0807043389. Osterman, P., and B. Lautsch. "Project QUEST: A Report to the Ford Foundation." Working Paper. Boston, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management, January 1996. Pulling It Together Osterman, P. Securing Prosperity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000, chapters 5, 6, and 7. ISBN: 0691086885. Uhalde, R., M. Selzer, P. Tate, and R. Klein-Collins. "Towards A National Workforce Education Policy." National Center on Education and the Economy, 2003.
10-11	Student Papers