Primarily on the basis of ethnographic case-studies from around the world, this volume links investigations of work to questions of personal and professional identity and social relations. In the era of digitalized neoliberalism, particular attention is paid to notions of freedom, both collective (in social relations) and individual (in subjective experiences). These cannot be investigated separately. Rather than juxtapose economy with ethics (or the profitable with the good), the authors uncover complex entanglements between the drudgery experienced by most people in the course of making a living and ideals of emancipated personhood.

Employment security is under pressure in public and private sectors because of fluctuating economic conditions and unstable markets. According to Loseby, the proponents of employment security have been lacking in substantive evidence justifying its existence. The majority of big business explicitly displays its disbelief in the practice through employee lay-off at first sign of economic adversity. Lay-offs are shown to create and prolong a number of socio-economic problems for society. Lack of employment affects personal ego, personal and family stress, and self-identity, as well as financial and economic factors associated with basic needs and success. The analyses of data provides focus on intangible and difficult-to-identify criteria such as employee morale and company loyalty. Productivity and financial ratios are also identified, analyzed, and compared. The author continues to review recommended and widely used strategies. Strengths and weaknesses are analyzed and compared, and successful national and global application of strategies are cited. The evolving corporation of the twenty-first century is reviewed to discern its needs, and to determine applicability of employment security to public or private enterprise. The book will be of interest to executives and all levels of management, human resource executives and personnel staff, in addition to professors of management and their students.

This study focuses on the job evaluation procedures used in the federal government to evaluate all white-collar non-supervisory occupations. It examines the factor and factor weighing methodologies developed by the Civil Service Commission to provide the basis for institutionalized standards used to establish existing pay differences. The Factor Evaluation System (FES) appears responsive to recommendations of comparable worth advocates that the criteria for determining job worth be made explicit and as bias-free as possible. The volume provides an extensive analysis of the new FES in an effort to determine fully its usefulness from the standpoint of such advocacy. The study addresses whether the new FES is more beneficial to female-dominated jobs than the old narrative classification system. Female-dominated jobs, it is discovered, were rated lower on all factors used in the federal government's job evaluation system. Dr. Werwie then goes on to explore why this was the case and whether changing the weights assigned to job factors under the new system would alter the pay relationship between male-and female-dominated jobs. Also examined is the extent to which the factors, dimensions and operational indicators of the FES and other evaluation systems adequately define and measure the job content of female-dominate occupations. The results provide insights which will be useful to administrators and researchers interested in moving current job evaluation systems closer toward the goal of a bias-free evaluation system.

By assessing the transition in enterprise-employee relations in China over the six decades since the founding of the nation and the three decades since the implementation of a reform and opening up policy, this book investigates these changes from three key perspectives: occupation, operation and governance. The book chiefly analyzes the unit system structure of enterprises and mechanisms such as apprentice systems inside organizations and proposes a combination of systematic governance and civic governance. Further, it investigates in detail the transition in labor relations in township, state-owned and private enterprises under the contract system, market system and project system, reviews the factors contributing to contradictions in labor relations at different periods, and puts forward options for modifying labor relations in various ways, including their system and structure.

Traces labor migration of women from Eastern Caribbean to oil-producing countries such as Venezuela, Trinidad, Curaðcao, and especially Aruba. Discusses women's participation in the labor force, gender relations, domestic service, the social and economic position of the migrants, and motherhood. Argues that US investments are an important factor in the migration of Caribbean women"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.

Allison Zippay charts the decline of displaced blue-collar workers, part of the fallout of the past decade's dramatic economic shift from manufacturing to an expanded, service-based economy. She challenges the widely held assumption that these workers have been absorbed into the post-industrial economy and raises questions regarding the real nature of their occupational transition. Actually a case study of the Shenango Valley in western Pennsylvania, where an estimated 6,600 jobs were lost due to plant closings, From Middle Income to Poor is unique in its coverage of the vital issue of economic dislocation. Zeroing in on long-term unemployment and income loss, Zippay finds that many of the displaced workers remain unemployed or underemployed and have slipped in status from middle-income to poor. The volume uses data gathered from interviews to explore how persons with a history of steady blue-collar employment have coped with economic dislocation and downward lifestyle shifts, and in the process presents a path-breaking community portrait of industrial displacement. Early chapters focus on blue-collar workers in the 1980s and the economic and social dimensions of the manufacturing decline. They describe the Shenango Valley community setting, mill work, mill workers, and how the lifestyles of the local residents have been shaped by long-standing blue collar traditions. Later chapters investigate the changes in income and employment that prompted a downward slide and examine the processes of rebuilding. Chapter Seven cites incidences of depression and other emotional distress as well as changes in perception of self and community. The final chapter discusses the implications of thefindings and recommends actions that could improve the displaced workers' social and economic well-being. Sociologists, policy analysts, social workers, and those in the fields of labor relations, social welfare, and social economics will find that this intense scrutiny of the Shenango Valley has far-reaching implications for the national economy in the 1990s and beyond.

In the decades after World War II, inflation undermined the aspiration for full employment in Australia. This book tells the story of how the Australian state was shaped by the confrontation with monetary instability: a pre-history of neoliberalism.

The issues discussed in this book are the building blocks needed for an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that will allow for value creation and reporting by the most important assets organizations have, its human capital.

Personnel economics, the use of economics for studying human resource issues, is becoming a standard course in business and economics departments around the world. Indeed, after being successfully introduced in North American business schools, the teaching of personnel economics is now growing in Europe and in the rest of the world. Yet, most of the traditional analysis of personnel economics assumes a perfectly competitive labour market, a situation in which wages are fully flexible and dismissals can take place at no cost. Such a setting is inappropriate for most European markets, where wage rigidity and wage compression are widespread phenomena, and where employment protection legislation is very stringent. Personnel Economics in Imperfect Labour Markets aims to describe key personnel issues when firms and human resource managers act in highly regulated labour markets. Written to be accessible to students, the book provides original answers to questions which have previously been left to specialized academic journals. Should hiring take place under temporary or permanent contracts? How can we provide compensation related incentives when minimum wages are binding? How de we solve the employment/hours trade-off? These questions and more are discussed within the text.

The Handbook brings together a systematic review of the research topics, empirical findings, and methods that comprise modern labor economics. It serves as an introduction to what has been done in this field, while at the same time indicating possible future trends which will be important in both spheres of public and private decision-making.
Part I is concerned with the classic topics of labor supply and demand, the size and nature of the elasticities between the two, and their impact on the wage structure. This analysis touches on two fundamental questions: what are the sources of income inequality, and what are the disincentive effects of attempts to produce a more equal income distribution ?
The papers in Part II proceed from the common observation that the dissimilarity in worker skills and employer demands often tempers the outcomes that would be expected in frictionless labor markets. And the last section of the Handbook deals explicitly with the role of institutional structures (e.g. trade unions) that now form an important part of modern labor economics.
For more information on the Handbooks in Economics series, please see our home page on http: //www.elsevier.nl/locate/hes

On Coerced Labor focuses on those forms of labor relations that have been overshadowed by the "extreme" categories (wage labor and chattel slavery) in the historiography. It covers types of work lying between what the law defines as "free labor" and "slavery." The frame of reference is the observation that although chattel slavery has largely been abolished in the course of the past two centuries, other forms of coerced labor have persisted in most parts of the world. While most nations have increasingly condemned the continued existence of slavery and the slave trade, they have tolerated labor relationships that involve violent control, economic exploitation through the appropriation of labor power, restriction of workers' freedom of movement, and fraudulent debt obligations. Contributors are: Lisa Carstensen, Christian G. De Vito, Justin F. Jackson, Christine Molfenter, David Palmer, Nicola Pizzolato, Luis F.B. Plascencia, Magaly Rodriguez Garcia, Kelvin Santiago-Valles, Nicole J. Siller, Marcel van der Linden, Sven Van Melkebeke.

Perspectives on Human Capital and Assets goes beyond the current literature by providing a platform for a broad scope of discussion regarding HC&A, and, more importantly, by encouraging a multidisciplinary fusion between diverse disciplines.

Is the cancer patient an object of job discrimination? Are the discriminatory claims of AIDS patients and patients of other chronic diseases accurate? According to this book the question is a moot one for its occurrence is an inevitable consequence of our social system and the characteristics of the disease. Work and Illness starts with the premise that work is a principle determinant in the quality of one's life particularly in the presence of a chronic illness. This book forcefully concludes that the study of the impact of chronic diseases on the labor market is not only a legitimate economic study but a social imperative to action. Ivan Barofsky, who in his position at the National Cancer Institute has focused on the quality of life of the cancer patient for the last ten years, takes the first step in this process. He has compiled the best available text on what is becoming a major social concern.

The book, divided into two major sections, first provides an in-depth review of the available data on the work history of the cancer patient. The second section provides specific recommendations for future research and policy issues. In addition, the book discusses: work and insurance experiences of the cancer patient; the failure of the NCI sponsored Work-able Project; research agenda; policy objectives.

Join the latest debate on the issues surrounding employment compensation. In Compensation and Organizations, a number of leading I/O psychologists and researchers explore the tremendous impact that recent changes in market conditions have had on today's compensation practices and outcomes. They delve into the effects that compensation has on employee performance, satisfaction, and attraction and retention, and examine the roles of pay strategy, pay risk, and the changing employment contract on pay packages and pay outcomes. They also offer nine general principles for constructing effective incentive systems. It's a broad-ranging work that summarizes the most important trends and conclusions in this important field and highlights areas in need of further research.

This book explores the politics behind "de-liberalization", defined as policy reforms that constrain markets and their underlying mechanisms. By offering a comparative study on the governmental reform strategies and policy choices of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, it demonstrates that de-liberalization processes are a common reform option for governments. Utilizing a novel dataset on liberalization covering policy reform trajectories in 38 industrialized countries between 1973 and 2013, it shows that governments often draw on strategies of de-liberalization in the fields of social, welfare and labor market policy, where they can be used as compensation for the electorate in the context of liberalizing reforms. As such, the book makes an important contribution to the field of political economy by capturing the turning of the tide in scholarly and policy attention, away from liberalization and towards a re-embedding and re-regulation of economic activity.

This book provides a systemic and detailed monographic study of Chinese outbound migration. It not only breaks down the basic trends of this migration with respect to destinations and the like, but also analyzes its unique features, which include the largely middle- and upper-class makeup of emigrants and their investment activities overseas, particularly when it comes to buying property. The Chinese are the largest foreign buyers of real estate in the US, Canada and Australia. By explaining this and other special aspects of Chinese emigration and their impact on China and receiving countries, this book provides a fresh and interesting look at this important phenomenon.

In the digital age tasks are increasingly modularised and consumers are increasingly becoming prosumers. Replacing digital labour and prosumption within an American context and the wider political economy, this volume presents a critical account of the forces which shape contemporary subjects, networks, and labour practices.

This book enables readers to better understand, explain, and predict the future of the nation's overall economic health through its examination of the black working class-especially the experiences of black women and black working-class residents outside of urban areas. How have the experiences of black working-class women and men residing in urban, suburban, and rural settings impacted U.S. labor relations and the broader American society? This book asserts that a comprehensive and critical examination of the black working class can be used to forecast whether economic troubles are on the horizon. It documents how the increasing incidence of attacks on unions, the dwindling availability of working-class jobs, and the clamoring by the working class for a minimum wage hike is proof that the atmospheric pressure in America is rising, and that efforts to prepare for the approaching financial storm require attention to the individuals and households who are often overlooked: the black working class. Presenting information of great importance to sociologists, political scientists, and economists, the authors of this work explore the impact of the recent Great Recession on working-class African Americans and argue that the intersections of race and class for this particular group uncover the state of equity and justice in America. This book will also be of interest to public policymakers as well as students in graduate-level courses in the areas of African American studies, American society and labor, labor relations, labor and the Civil Rights Movement, and studies on race, class, and gender. Contributes new information and fresh perspectives on the ongoing debate regarding the significance of race versus class Suggests a number of lessons all Americans can learn from the black working class Provides a insightful critique of the first black American president's record on race and addressing socioeconomic class differences Supplies an unprecedented examination that simultaneously examines the diversity of the black working class as well as its historical impact on shaping and foreshadowing the U.S. economy over many generations

Combining what economists know about productivity with the findings of organization theorists about worker motivation, the author describes a strategy to improve the quality of work life, with major benefits for both employers and employees.

Gender often influences the type of occupation that individuals choose, as well as the way they work and the outcomes of that work. Home-based employment is no different. The proximity of these workers to their families' living activities provides an unique opportunity to study the effects of work-at-home on family interaction and the role that gender plays in this traditionally female-dominated situation.

The chapters provide a range of gender considerations from the perspectives of the workers and the workers' families, with emphasis on either the workers, the family, or the work/business. The first chapter provides an overview of the subjects being covered and defines several of the concepts used. The range of viewpoints is extensive: Chapter 2 considers home-based employment from a global perspective, while Chapter 8 narrows the focus to one particular location and type of home-based worker. Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 7 examine in various ways the data from a 9-state study, basing their analyses in theoretical and conceptual frameworks related to gender. Chapter 6 explores the dilemma of parents who have to hire child care in order to complete their home-based work. Also included are recommendations for public policy considerations.

Housework and domestic service have become popular topics within the scholarly community. . . Van Raaphorst . . . adds to this growing literature by illuminating the efforts to organize domestics in the years from the Civil War to WWII. The book does much more than this however. It surveys the period from early colonization to the 1930s and divides the history of domestic service into four distinct chronological eras. . . . The author examines the psychology of housework and assesses the occupation from the perspectives of the employer and employee. Finally, she sketches the seemingly innumerable but inevitably fleeting attempts to better the lot of the domestic either through organization or unionization. "Choice"

"Union Maids Not Wanted" offers a comprehensive investigation of why the most populous group of the female workforce, domestic workers, was unable to establish long-lasting, powerful unions as have other groups of laborers. The author chronicles the number of colorful yet failed attempts at organization throughout the period of 1870-1940, analyzing the factors which worked together to prevent successful unionization. She systematically examines the psychology and nature of domestic work, union rejection of domestic laborers, employers' opposition to organization, and the frequent disagreements among the domestics themselves. Finally, she demonstrates how these factors affected the orientation of domestic workers to the organized labor movement as a whole and as a force within their own ranks.

Based on case studies of Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia, this book examines the changes in rural labour markets as a result of a decade of structural adjustment programmes. These programmes were meant to shift relative prices in favour of the agricultural sector, and, within the agricultural sector, in favour of export crops. In response, labour should have moved to the favoured sector. The case studies show that such a shift did not occur and the overview chapter reviews the complexities of the African labour markets which ensured this outcome.

Manpower analysis and planning for the energy sector is the cornerstone of any successful national energy program. The human resources aspect of energy problems, however, has received little systematic attention. Responding to the need for a comprehensive information source on this important subject, Professor Hosni's bibliography reviews research completed to date and documents the different strategies that have been developed to cope with changing conditions in the energy market. Providing an international perspective, it draws on the literature of the United States and fifty other countries, with particular attention to the Arab world, where both energy and manpower are critical to future development.

This expertly prepared policy issues handbook surveys the changing workplace and the failures of America's public health and education systems to prepare the future work force to compete at home and abroad. Carl Stenberg and William Colman analyze the key issues; review a mass of information, ideas, and insights about policy options that are available; and assess their pros and cons. Students, teachers, administrators, policymakers, and concerned citizens will find a wealth of clearly presented data along with careful analyses of the major proposals for reform. Figures, tables, short summaries, appendices, bibliographical aids, and a full index make this one-volume landmark reference accessible to researchers and readers at different levels and for varied use.