In 2004, the U.S. State Department declared Filipina hostesses in Japan the largest group of sex trafficked persons in the world. Since receiving this global attention, the number of hostesses entering Japan has dropped by nearly 90 percentOCofrom more than 80,000 in 2004 to just over 8,000 today. To some, this might suggest a victory for the global anti-trafficking campaign, but Rhacel Parreas counters that this drastic declineOCowhich stripped thousands of migrants of their livelihoodsOCois in truth a setback.
Parreas worked alongside hostesses in a working-class club in Tokyo's red-light district, serving drinks, singing karaoke, and entertaining her customers, including members of the "yakuza," the Japanese crime syndicate. While the common assumption has been that these hostess bars are hotbeds of sexual trafficking, Parreas quickly discovered a different world of working migrant women, there by choice, and, most importantly, where none were coerced into prostitution. But this is not to say that the hostesses were not vulnerable in other ways.
"Illicit Flirtations" challenges our understandings of human trafficking and calls into question the U.S. policy to broadly label these women as sex trafficked. It highlights how in imposing top-down legal constraints to solve the perceived problemsOCoincluding laws that push dependence on migrant brokers, guest worker policies that bind migrants to an employer, marriage laws that limit the integration of migrants, and measures that criminalize undocumented migrantsOComany women become more vulnerable to exploitation, not less. It is not the jobs themselves, but the regulation that makes migrants susceptible to trafficking. If we are to end the exploitation of people, we first need to understand the actual experiences of migrants, not rest on global policy statements. This book gives a long overdue look into the real world of those labeled as trafficked.

First published in 1969. This book analyses the role of Unemployment Insurance in a high-employment economy. It emphasises the social requirements of an income-maintenance scheme in the context of various economic policies, particularly government intervention in the labour market. The authors discuss other related problems including the relationship between Unemployment Insurance and redundancy compensation and the question of selectivity in social security. This book provides a case study in a field bordering labour economics, public finance and social policy and will be useful as a textbook for both economists and sociologists, illustrating the relevance of economic analysis to social welfare policy. It offers comparisons of Unemployment Insurance in several European countries with the British scheme and in their final chapter the authors make important suggestions for policy changes in the structure of British Unemployment Insurance and in social security generally.

First published in 1987. This volume explores the inter-war unemployment problem and the development of economic and social policy in relation to that problem. Contemporary policies and levels of unemployment can only be compared with the inter-war period and in recent years economists and other commentators have increasingly turned their attention to the 1930s. This book is written by a group of expert historians and policy analysts who have been in the forefront of recent research. In particular, new insights into economic policy which have come from the release of cabinet and departmental papers at The Public Record Office are revealed. Recent economic theory is also taken into account and the findings question established views on many grounds. New economic lessons from the 1930s are suggested and some astonishing similarities to the 1980s and demonstrated. This work will be essential reading for students of modern British history and economic and social history as well as economic policy and government and politics.

First published in 1995. Over the last several decades there has been much concern that international trade has been destroying "good" jobs in the United States. This book provides a thorough empirical examination of this issue, focussing on the years when large, continuous deficits began. The analysis examines occupational employment data for 118 occupations in 156 different industries, and will be of interest to both students of business and economics and policy makers.

First published in 1995. During the late 1980s and early 1990s the American economy again became immersed in a recession. Consequently, it became very likely that the quality of employment generated during this period would suffer, and the situation of the labor force would be expected to worsen. The study of labor force stratification can illuminate ways in which the American working class is segmented, as well as the relation to other social problems like poverty and delinquency. In this book, the author explores underemployment, an arguably more accurate measure of labor force hardship than unemployment, amongst several demographic groups. This study will be of interest to students of both economics and sociology.

First published in 1987. The reform of the welfare state in the United Kingdom is high on the agenda of all political parties and the proposals for reform, both official and private, are numerous. In this book, Professor Beenstock and his colleagues took a comprehensive account of the social security of the 1980s, as well as the tax system, as it had evolved over the Beveridge era and how it affected our incentive to work. The book describes the theory of labour supply decisions in their relationship to the tax benefit system. It illustrates how tax and social security arrangements affected labour supply decisions as well as monitoring how these decisions had evolved over the post-war period. It also considers retirement decisions in the UK as well as the government's plans to reform the social security system.

First published in 1987. This fascinating study provides an understanding of the failings of the post-war era of active macroeconomic policy-making, and only by a better comprehension of past failings can we hope to provide the successful policies for the present and future. The book takes as its primary bench mark an analysis of Keynes's conception of the wages problem at or near full employment in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. It then depicts the developments in official thinking and policy with regard to this problem as the confidence in Keynesian principles waxed and waned over the period.

First published in 1984. This book presents a great deal of research findings, new advances in theory and comprehensive overviews of key aspects of labour economics. It examines the latest trends in the field and assesses the impact of recent policies together with the likely impact of proposed policies. This study covers a wide range of topics but concentrates in particular on questions connected with the economics of trade unions which is a major area of concern for labour economists.

First published in 1990. This edited work brings together a collection of studies, by an international team of contributors, on inter-urban migration, which is largely dominated by labour migration. The structure of the book reflects the interaction of the supply and demand of labour and the information flows that make this possible. The book offers a multi-dimensional analysis of labour migration, including behavioural, economic and institutional approaches. It combines various scales of analysis, including the national scale, the occupational scale and the household scale. The study also examines labour migration in a variety of national contexts. It will be of particular value to professional geographers, economists and sociologists with an interest in the distribution of population and the labour force, planners with responsibility for the development of policy and some final year graduate students.

First published in 1990. Patterns of Labour explores the interaction between home, paid work, and the individual. It looks at how the social relations of work both shape and are shaped by the context in which they occur. In a detailed examination of the pottery industries of Britain and America over two centuries, Richard Whipp looks at the far-reaching effects of key issues, such as industrialisation and economic transformation. However, he also examines changing notions of gender, the family, community and unionisation. The book centres on the difficulties of organising, controlling and describing work - not least because of the human act of its making.

First published in 1986. This book analyses, at an introductory level, the four main and competing political interpretations of the cause of unemployment and the future of paid work - social democracy, free market liberalism, the disciplinary state, and utopian socialism. Considered together these four interpretations are highly revealing - and challenging. They raise considerable doubts about the viability or desirability of policies design to 'get the jobless back to work'. Keane and Owens' central argument is that the post-war policy of full male employment, as well as its politic, economic and social preconditions, are not repeatable, Starting with Keynes and Beveridge, they explain how and why full employment welfare states developed in Britain and the US, and how they had in turn been replaced by the 'strong state, free market' programmes of Thatcher and Reagan. By focusing on an issue which was, and still is, at the heart of political debate, the book provides a lucid and approachable guide to four key strands of political thought it Britain and the US. It will be an ideal introductory text for students of politics, sociology and economics.

First published in 1982. Unemployment was a major scourge of the advanced capitalist countries in the 1930s, but in the golden age of post-war expansion which lasted until 1973, it had seemingly been vanquished by enlightened economic policy. Since 1973, unemployment has re-emerged as a major problem, along with accelerated inflation and problems of structural adjustment imposed by soaring energy prices. The rise in European unemployment came in two surges as a result of the generalised recessions of 1974-5 and 1980-1. At the beginning of 1982 unemployment in the European Community was running close to 10% of the labour force compared with a 'norm' of under 2% in the 1960s. These abrupt and serious changes in the labour market have created major new dilemmas for economic policy and have stirred significant and acrimonious theoretical controversy. For this reason it is useful to analyse the policy issues and the academic debate in a comparative perspective. The present volume contains three comparative papers on the employment policy discussions in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK as well as papers examining the theoretical adequacy of Keynesian, monetarist, structuralist and Marxist reactions to the new issues. The papers are all accompanies by a critique from the discussants.

First published in 1985. In this remarkable book, the author has compiled a large collection of resource material that will be of benefit to the student as well as the practitioner of equal employment and affirmative action (EEO/AA). This book includes a broad scope of information on EEO/AA from its infancy and progresses through its rapidly changing and developing stages. Indeed, this book will be an invaluable asset in easily acquiring and supplementing one's basic knowledge as well as providing a general overview of the subject area.

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 1997. Politicians of all shades argue that the labour market should be more flexible and workers more mobile. But what does this mean in reality? How flexible and mobile are workers likely to be? Is there an ideological base to the language of flexibility? These are some of the issues covered in this book. Data from a large factory and office is used to argue that the macro labour market consists of non-competitive work groups where strongly held views and values represent a substantial barrier to simplistic definitions of flexibility and mobility. The analysis takes place in three chapters, dealing with recruitment for work, skills used in work and perceptions of different types of work and workers. The findings suggest that non-economic forces (such as institutional, social, historical and political phenomena) strongly influence the creation of separate work cultures. Furthermore, it is argued that the reason for differences between work groups being articulated in a defensive fashion reflects the climate of fear in the labour market, where flexibility is associated with a loss of the (often limited) power, control and influence workers have over their position in the labour market.

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 1978. In spite of the wide recognition of Hong Kong's successful growth record, little is known about the impact that rapid industrialisation has had on income distribution. The transformation of an entrepot economy into an industrial one has been accompanied by a transition from a labour surplus to a labour shortage economy, which has had a profound influence on the distribution of income by size. The effect has been channelled through a number of variables such as the composition of employment by industry, occupational structure, labour force participation rate and wage structure. All these changes have, moreover, owed much to the existence of a market mechanism which has been virtually free from government intervention. Beginning with a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of the various characteristics of employment and the labour force on household income distribution, this study assesses the impact of Hong Kong's industrialisation and employment growth on its income distribution. Through an analysis of the changes in industrial and occupational structures, employment status, household size, labour participation rate, inflow of labour and wage and employment structures, it considers not only how income distribution alters with economic development, but also the mechanism that has brought about these changes. The redistribution effect of government activities is examined and the incidence of particular taxes to different income groups is apportioned to give a clear overall picture. Finally, the benefits obtained from government expenditures on housing, education and health are measured and are allocated to different income groups, illustrating how this has appreciably reduced income inequality in Hong Kong.

First published in 1985. Increasing doubt is being shed on the proposition that higher levels of education in developing countries are an unmitigated good. Unemployment among school leavers and university graduates is now a major problem. Some people argue that what is needed is a reform of primary education and the changing of attitudes to work; but many of the measures adopted have failed to achieve these goals and have only worsened the problem by increasing costs, making curricula less flexible and by increasing 'mis-education'. This book examines the problems and the measures adopted to alleviate them in four important developing countries. It provides many new research findings and much new thinking and concludes with suggestions for improving policies.

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.

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.

First published in 1983. This text is designed to enable intermediate and advanced students to attain familiarity with the theoretical concepts used in labour market analysis, and to apply them fruitfully to the economic problem of labour markets. Each chapter of Section I deals with a different theoretical development of the basic labour market model of utility maximising labour supply and the marginal productivity theory of labour demand. In addition, the authors discuss in depth uncharted territory including the analysis of uncertainty and discrimination in labour markets and advances in human capital theory, in each case covering the implications both for equity and the efficient allocation of resources. Each chapter of Section II analyses an important economic problem - for instance wage determination, unemployment and inflation - using the theoretical insights derived from Section I. The contributions of different theoretical developments are assessed by reference to the current state of empirical research into labour market problems. This book stresses the interaction between labour market mechanisms and also between market and non-market forces in the belief that this will lead to a greater understanding of the operation of the labour market than can be gained by viewing each theoretical development in isolation from the others.

"The Economics of Urban Diversity" explores ethnic and religious minorities in urban economies. In this exciting work, the contributors develop an integrative approach to urban diversity and economy by employing concepts from different studies and linking historical and contemporary analyses of economic, societal, demographic, and cultural development. Contributors from a variety of disciplines--geography, economics, history, sociology, anthropology, and planning--make for a transdisciplinary analysis of past and present migration-related economic and social issues, which helps to better understand the situation of ethnic and religious minorities in metropolitan areas today.

This book reexamines classical issues in the relationship between indifferent forms of democratization, civil, political and social--in Chile's transition to democracy during the 1990's. It highlights the lasting institutional limits tosocial democratization in countries that are democratizing in the context ofradical market reforms and provides an account of the politics of limiting social deepening in the crucial early years of Chile's transition, including a detailed examination of the influence of local union history and labor relations.

People regularly multitask, though we have been warned about the mental costs of "task-switching" in psychology and the popular press. Meanwhile, economists have remained silent on the possible economic ramifications - both good and bad - of producers and/or consumers doing more than one thing at once. This first-of-its-kind volume explores the frequency, patterns, and economic implications of multitasking, with a particular focus on the multitasking of non-market activities such as child care, housework, eating, and studying. Using data sets from around the world and best-practice empirical and experimental techniques, the contributors to this volume explore the association of multitasking with output and welfare in a range of settings of interest to economists. Contributions in theory, empirical work, data management, and concepts are combined to yield the discipline's first holistic view of multitasking and to identify where the research frontiers lie in this area.