Employers today are demanding more and more of employees' time. And from campaign barbecues to the blogosphere, workers across the United States are raising the same worried question: How can I get ahead at my job while making sure my family doesn't fall behind? Heather Boushey argues that resolving work-life conflicts is as vital for individuals and families as it is essential for realizing the country's productive potential. The federal government, however, largely ignores the connection between individual work-life conflicts and more sustainable economic growth. The consequence: business and government treat the most important things in life-health, children, elders-as matters for workers to care about entirely on their own time and dime. That might have worked in the past, but only thanks to a hidden subsidy: the American Wife, a behind-the-scenes, stay-at-home fixer of what economists call market failures. When women left the home-out of desire and necessity-the old system fell apart. Families and the larger economy have yet to recover. But change is possible. Finding Time presents detailed innovations to help Americans find the time they need and help businesses attract more productive workers. A policy wonk with working-class roots and a deep understanding of the stresses faced by families up and down the income ladder, Heather Boushey demonstrates with clarity and compassion that economic efficiency and equity do not have to be enemies. They can be reconciled if we have the vision to forge a new social contract for business, government, and private citizens.

The transformation of China's economy from a centrally planned to a market-oriented system has had a profound impact on management systems and practices at the firm level, particularly changes to the organization of work. One of the consequences of this is increasing social disparity reflected through inequality of employees' income and employment conditions. This book, based on extensive original research including interviews and questionnaire surveys in different regions of China, explores the exact nature of these changes and their effects. It examines state-owned enterprises, foreign-owned enterprises and domestic private enterprises, discusses the extent to which employees are satisfied with their employment conditions and whether they think their employment conditions are fair and outlines how managers and employees in China expect conditions to change in future.

The rapid influx of women into the labour market has come to be recognised as one of the most important economic and social developments of the latter half of the 20th century. Women in the Labor Market is an authoritative collection of those papers which have made the greatest contribution to our understanding of this development and its causes. The emphasis is on empirical work which has served either to support or undermine the theoretical foundations of this field, but also included are papers by sociologists who provide insights on economic issues not found in the work of economists.The opening section explores the causes of women's participation in the labour market. The following section investigates the nature of the work in which women are involved and the explanations for this occupational distribution. The question of earnings differentials between male and female occupations and the trends and explanations for this gender wage gap are addressed in the third section, while the penultimate section offers an exploration of the policies which have been proposed in order to improve the status of women in the labour market. In conclusion, the impact of women's work on their lives and families is evaluated.

Emerging in the throes of a global pandemic that threatens Europe's economies and food security, International Labour Migration to Europe's Rural Regions combines a diverse range of empirically rich, in-depth case studies, analysis of their rural context specificities, and insights from labour market and migration theories, to critically examine the conditions and implications of rural labour migration. Despite its growing political, economic and social importance, our understanding of international labour migration to Europe's rural regions remains limited. This edited volume provides intricate descriptions of lived experience, critical theoretical analyses, analytical synthesis, and policy recommendations for this novel and developing phenomenon that has the potential to transform the lives of international migrants and local communities. The book's 25 authors represent a wide range of social science disciplines, with coverage of a vast range of Europe's rural regions, and diverse types of rural labour in areas such as horticulture, shepherding, wild berry picking and fish processing. The volume will be of interest to policy makers at local, regional, national and European levels, and scholars and students in a broad range of areas, including migration, labour markets, and rural studies. This book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com.

Originally published in 2004. Growth, income distribution, and labour markets are issues of pivotal importance in the Latin American context. Examining unique theoretical issues and the empirical evidence, this book provides a critical analysis of the key elements of income distribution determinants, labour market functions, trade policies, and their interrelations. As the advance of globalization becomes seemingly unstoppable, this book provides an important reappraisal of the impact of this new phenomenon, and in particular, the pernicious impact it may have on income growth and distribution. The key objective of the volume is to integrate more fully the analysis of trade and labour market economists, in order to better understand the labour market and income distribution implications of globalization and international integration. Forty years after the early calls to appropriately investigate the micro foundations of macroeconomics, the separation of the two at the policy level is more damaging than ever before - particularly for developing regions; this volume therefore makes an important contribution at the theoretical and policy levels by bringing together macroeconomic and microeconomic analyses.

Artificial intelligence and the autonomous robots of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will render certain jobs and competences obsolete but will also create new roles, which in turn require new sets of skills. They will also transform how we produce, distribute and consume, as well as how we think. Rather than a linear understanding of evolutionary processes, we will develop a more interactive and circular interpretation. This book offers a unique and holistic perspective on the future of work in the context of industry 4.0. It discusses the globalization of capital markets, how artificial intelligence can help organizations to be more competitive and the new role of leadership in this technological landscape. The author argues that there are four categories of competences, which will be required in order to maintain the relevance of human skills and expertise in the innovation economy. The new jobs that come into being will lend themselves to a particular set of skills. General competences will be necessary for roles involving the 4Cs of communication, creativity, collaboration and change. Specific or STEM competences will be called for across the science, technology, engineering and mathematics sectors. Human competences will lend themselves to positions comprising the SELC framework of social, emotional, leadership and cultural skills. Critical or REVE competences will be in demand for roles embracing reflection, ethics, values and the environment. The book provides a human-centric view of the current technological advancements of artificial intelligence and robotics and offers a positive outlook for human actors seeking continued relevance. It will appeal to scholars and students of the innovation economy, the knowledge society and the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution.

When Poland and Ukraine introduced their political, social and economic system reforms at the beginning of the 1990s, both economies were at a similar level of economic development (GDP $9,500 per capita). However, in 2018, Ukrainian GDP per capita had remained at the same levels since 1991, while in Poland, it had increased significantly, to more than $27,000 per capita. This book assesses the reasons for the growing gap between the level of economic development in Ukraine and Poland. It examines the course of events and evaluates the effectiveness of the system transformations, both in the context of the economy, as a whole, and in individual regions (Polish 'voivodeships' (provinces) and Ukrainian 'oblasts'). It also analyzes the consequences of the 2008-2009 Ukrainian-Russian gas conflict and 2013-2014 Euromaidan events for the Ukrainian economy. Additionally, the authors offer an insight into the migration movements, which have recently been observed in Poland and Ukraine. This is the first comprehensive, comparative analysis concerning the spatial diversification of economic development in these two countries, and the authors highlight the ways in which these reforms have proved effective in Poland and hardly effective in Ukraine. This analysis helps to identify the basic interrelations between the core macroeconomic variables at the regional level and the impact of political events from both a national and regional perspective. The book will appeal to academics, researchers and policy makers interested in the economic and political changes in these two countries, in a comparative setting and on national and regional levels, as well as those working on issues of EU integration.

Over the past few decades, the world economy has undergone radical transformations, in part connected to the expansion of the 'digital economy', in part to the growing interconnection via the internet of the world of objects and physical processes. This 'great transformation' poses the dilemma on the capitalism's ability to reconcile economic and social value, keeping together economic well-being, social cohesion and political freedom. The Economy of Collaboration can offer a contribution in this direction but requires courageous policies to mediate the various interests at stake, as well as to rethink and make more sustainable its development, by increasing the benefits not only for businesses but also for workers and consumers. In short, to create shared value. This book refers to a mode of organizing the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services based on cooperative relations. The main reference is to activities linked to the digital economy, since they are the emerging forms of a definitely older phenomenon, but which is expanding on an ever-wider scale thanks to new technologies. These collaborative activities can be regulated differently, along a continuum that ranges from the pole of market exchanges to that of generalized reciprocity, with various intermediate mixed forms.

First published in book form in 1981, this collection of essays originally written between 1955 and 1966 contains ground-breaking research and analysis on the study of wages and prices across seven centuries, with particular reference to builder's wage rates and the price of a bundle of the commodities on which these wages might be spent. These seminal contributions to the economics of labour and economic growth did much to fuel the debate surrounding the problems of inflation, stability and changes in the purchasing power of money upon the book's initial publication. These concerns are every bit as relevant in today's post credit-crunch society and this reissue will be welcomed by all students of economic history and labour economics.

First published in 1920. This study examines the science of industrial work and the advances in its application to the economic life of the community. The author commences this volume with a brief explanation of the general principles of Theoretical Mechanics which have been applied in the study of the Human Motor. Space has also been devoted to the explanation of the laws of thermo-dynamics and of the Conservation of Energy. These provide the reader with the means by which muscular work and fatigue can be measured. This title will be of interest to students of economics and business.

These two volumes bring together theoretical and empirical papers on the economics of training. The first volume comprises of papers that discuss the economic theory underlying firms' and individuals' decisions to provide or acquire training. In particular, they offer differing perspectives on human capital theory. This volume also includes papers examining the design of both experimental and nonexperimental strategies for estimating the effects of training. The second volume consists of studies that estimate the impact of both public and private provided training on earnings. Most of the volume is devoted to studies that illustrate nonexperimental evaluations of training. However, because experiments have become an important part of this literature, the volume includes papers that provide a detailed evaluation of one well-known social experiment, and that use experiments to evaluate the non-experimental evaluations of training.

The so-called 'Spanish miracle', beginning in the mid-1990s, eventually became a nightmare for the majority of the population, culminating in the present-day economic and political crisis. This book explores the main features of the Spanish political-economic model during both the growth and crisis periods. Analyzing the causes and consequences of the continuing economic crisis in Spain, this book delves into five analytical axes: the evolution of the growth model; the role of Spain in the international division of labor; the financial sector and its influence on the rest of the economy; changes in the labor market; and the distributional consequences of both the expansive phase and the later crisis. Furthermore, contributors examine the formation of a triangle of actors (the government sector, building sector, and financial capital) that shaped the Spanish growth model, together with the effects of Spain's membership in the Economic and Monetary Union. Also considering ecological problems, gender issues, and the immigration question, this book challenges the alleged recovery of living conditions during recent years, as well as the explanation of the crisis as the result of irrational behaviors or the greedy nature of certain actors. The Political Economy of Contemporary Spain provides a coherent explanation of the Spanish economic crisis based on a pluralistic approach, while proposing several measures that could contribute to a transformation of Spain's economic and social models.

Avoiding prejudice will be critical to economic success in the fourth industrial revolution. It is not the new and innovative technology that will matter in the next decade, but what we do with it. Using technology properly, with diverse decision making, is the difference between success and failure in a changing world. This will require putting the right person in the right job at the right time. Prejudice stops that happening. Profit and Prejudice takes us through the relationship between economic success and prejudice in labour markets. It starts with the major changes that occur in periods of economic upheaval. These changes tend to be unpopular and complex - and complexity encourages people to turn to the simplistic arguments of 'scapegoat economics' and prejudice. Some of the changes of the fourth industrial revolution will help fight prejudice, but some will make it far worse. The more prejudice there is, the harder it will be for companies and countries to profit from the changes ahead. Profit is not the main argument against prejudice, but can certainly help fight it. This book tells a story of the damage that prejudice can do. Using economics without jargon, students, investors and the public will be able to follow the narrative and see how prejudice can be opposed. Prejudice is bad for business and the economy. Profit and Prejudice explains why.

Contesting Inequality and Worker Mobilisation: Australia 1851-1880 provides a new perspective on how and why workers organise, and what shapes that organisation. The author's 2018 Origins of Worker Mobilisation examined the beginning of worker organisation, arguing inequality at work, and regulatory subordination of labour, drove worker resistance, initially by informal organization that slowly transitioned to formal organisation. This new volume analyses worker mobilisation in the period 1851-1880, drawing data from a unique relational database recording every instance of organisation. It assesses not only the types of organization formed, but also the issues and objectives upon which mobilisation was founded. It examines the relationship between formal and informal organisation, including their respective influences in reshaping working conditions and the life-circumstances of working communities. It relates the examination of worker mobilisation to both historical and contemporary contexts and examines mobilisation by different categories of labour. The book identifies important effects of mobilisation on economic inequality, hours of work (including the eight-hour day and the beginnings of the weekend) and the development of democracy. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of social mobilisation, social and economic history, industrial relations, labour regulation, labour history, and employment relations.

First published in 1991. The connection between housing and work is one of the most discussed yet least understood aspects of modern society. Housing and Labour Markets explores the different ways in which housing and labour are linked and examines their central significance in many of the key changes in society today. It provides a wide-ranging analysis of the relationships between housing and labour markets, with accounts of the different forms of work, paid and unpaid, in which various types of households are engaged. This edited collection addresses the varied impact of restructuring in both housing and labour markets in different localities and regions, including contributions from the USA and Australia. By making an important input into the growing debate over the inks between home and work, this book shows the direction in which the debate should go, draws out the principal lines of connection and suggests a way forward. The issues addressed in Housing and Labour Markets will be of interest to a wide range of social science disciplines, especially urban studies, economics, sociology, geography and planning. Local government officers in housing and planning will also find it makes an invaluable contribution to developing links between housing and the workplace.

First published in 1989. The oil crises of the 1970s and increasing international competitive pressures had profoundly changed the structure and performance of labour. Analysis of labour markets, and especially international comparisons, can be difficult, given the differences between definitions, scope, coverage of data, methods, presentation, and economic and social influence in different regions. This book is an invaluable guide for users of international labour statistics. It centralizes and co-ordinates, from a range of sources, basic statistical information regarding the labour force for a large number of countries. Individual chapters, by specialists in the particular subject areas, deal with eight key aspects relating to the labour markets of major, developed capitalist countries (OECD countries); working population, unemployment, wages, consumer prices, labour costs, hours of work, trade union membership, and industrial disputes. The book discusses the nature of the data sources and statistical compilations, highlights cross-national trends over the past fifteen years, outlines the inherent difficulties of making such cross-country comparisons, and points out the potential pitfalls of interpretation of which users are often insufficiently aware. The book includes a summary of key labour market data, on an individual country basis, for twenty-four OECD countries and twenty other countries.

First published in 1979. This thesis describes the theoretical impact on labour markets of a process of adverse selection similar to that described in outline by George Arthur Akerlof. It concerns the information conveyed to potential employers by the fact that any new worker, except for one just entering the labour force, has either left or is prepared to leave his latest Job. If an employer is able to identify his good workers more accurately than the market at large and is generally successful in retaining them, then the group of workers leaving him will contain a disproportionately small number of good ones. For similar reasons this pool should also contain an unusually large number of bad workers who have been either flied or induced to quit. Thus, workers who change jobs should on average be less able ones. Since the market failures that result have potentially significant consequences in the labour market, this study is devoted to examining their influence on the structure of wages and job tenure, and on the operation and efficiency of labour markets. This title will be of great interest to students of economics and business studies.

First published in 1970. This book is concerned with the examination and assessment of the impact of changes in technology on companies in three selected industries: printing, steel and chemicals. Its main focus is on the employment and associated labour market effects of technological change; but part of the rationale for the study as a whole has been to relate these effects to the technological environment of each industry. Accordingly, a good deal of attention has been paid to the character of the innovations themselves and to their implications for the industries in general terms. This title will be of interest to students of Business Studies and Economics.

This book provides a concise and accessible history of the relationship between the individual and capitalism in the United States. The text is devoted to tracking the historical development of important themes, whilst addressing key episodes in the progress of American capitalism within these, such as the Great Depression and New Deal. The book will introduce students to the key philosophical principles that have been the most influential in the history of free enterprise in the United States as well as exploring the ways in which these ideas have been popularly understood by Americans from the late eighteenth century to the present. Liberalism and Neoliberalism, entrepreneurialism, slavery and racial capitalism, and business and gender are all assessed. The material in this volume is complimented by a set of primary source documents that bring the subject to life. It will be of interest to students of American history, business and labor history.

This book provides an original contribution to contemporary research surrounding the environmental, humanitarian and socio-political crises associated with contemporary capitalism. Reimagining Labor for a Sustainable Future is guided by the assertion that new systems are always preceded by new ideas and that imagination and experimentation are central in this process. Given the vast terrain of capitalism - processes, institutions, and stakeholders - Vogelaar and Dasgupta have selected labour as the point of engagement in the study of capitalist and alternative imaginaries. In order to demonstrate the importance of labour in rethinking and restructuring our world economy, the authors examine three diverse community projects in Scotland, India and the United States. They reveal the nuanced ways in which each community engages in commoning practices that re-center social reproduction and offer more expansive views of labour that challenge the neoliberal capitalist imaginary. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable economics, labour studies and sustainable development.

This volume: * includes on-the-ground studies from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal; * examines the unequal impact of remittances on local economies in South Asia; * factors in how migration as a phenomenon negotiates with gender, environment and even healthcare; * Will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of economics, development studies, migration and diaspora studies, gender studies, labour studies and sociology * will also be useful to policymakers and government institutions working in the area.

First published in 1981. This book reports on a decade of research into the effects of taxation on the supply of labour. In addition to their work in making labour supply estimates, the study explores a number of the ways labour supply estimates can be used. When budget constraints are non-linear it is not possible to estimate the effects of (tax) or other policy changes from knowledge of labour supply elasticities alone, and it is necessary to re-estimate the original model used to derive the estimates. The implications of labour supply estimates for the study of inequality and optimal taxation are considered. Macro-economic models of the economy typically omit labour supply functions or include functions which are inconsistent with micro-economic work on labour supply. This book will appeal to academic economists, senior students and policy-makers in the field of public finance and labour economics, who will find much of interest from both the theoretical and policy standpoints.

This volume: * includes on-the-ground studies from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal; * examines the unequal impact of remittances on local economies in South Asia; * factors in how migration as a phenomenon negotiates with gender, environment and even healthcare; * Will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of economics, development studies, migration and diaspora studies, gender studies, labour studies and sociology * will also be useful to policymakers and government institutions working in the area.