October 10, 2018
CEPR regularly publishes a curated collection of original research from academic institutions and nonprofits on the state of the US labor market. The compilation is part of our ongoing effort to promote informed debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people’s lives.
The Brookings Institution
Seasonally and Weather-Adjusting the Monthly Jobs Numbers
An economist reexamines this month’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment report using three alternative projection methods to account for seasonal weather patterns.
Center for American Progress (CAP)
Corporate Long-Termism, Transparency, and the Public Interest
The authors advocate for a stand-alone disclosure requirement to incentivize companies to invest in worker training in spite of short-term market pressures to do otherwise.
Union Membership Narrows the Racial Wealth Gap for Families of Color
The benefits of union membership are especially valuable for nonwhite families.
Under President Trump, Workers Continue to Struggle
Real wages for most workers have stagnated or declined under Trump, even as corporate profits soar.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)
Council of Economic Advisers Report on Assistance Programs and Employment Overlooks Key Evidence
Evidence suggests that children and the disabled are disproportionately affected when rigid work requirements are attached to housing, food, and medical aid eligibility. Moreover, such policies fail to address the growing number of workers who are employed but whose wages are so low that they still require government assistance.
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
Fissuring of Labor Markets, Wage Stagnation, and Rising Wage Inequality
Technological advances in the last third of the 20th century made it more cost-effective for firms to outsource ancillary and specialized functions to subcontractors. This led to firm consolidation based on core competencies, giving dominant firms monopsony power over the contractors competing for their business, and incentivizing those contractors to lower wages in order to remain competitive. The “fissuring” of production has changed how labor markets function and has increased wage inequality among otherwise similar workers.
CLASP
Measuring Success: Career Pathways Research
This is part of a series on strategies to better define, develop, and promote career pathways. New studies show promising short-term results for career pathways participants in health care and manufacturing, but further research is needed to expand the scope and to examine specific program components.
Developing State Policy that Supports Low-Income, Working Students
This paper lays out an action framework to support the educational success of low-income working students, particularly students of color. It also examines how states must expand their policies beyond the traditional postsecondary landscape to acknowledge the complexity of these students’ lives.
Economic Policy Institute (EPI)
America’s Slow-Motion Wage Crisis: Four Decades Of Slow and Unequal Growth
Over the last four decades, workers in the US have seen slow wage growth. Moreover, the growth that has occurred has been distributed increasingly unequally in terms of class, race, gender, and geography.
Why DC Should Implement Initiative 77: Tipped Workers Do Better in ‘One-Fair-Wage’ Cities; Restaurants Continue to Thrive
Seven states have already eliminated the tipped minimum wage without any of the adverse effects touted by opponents of Initiative 77.
Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE)
The Teacher Pay Penalty Has Hit a New High
In a joint publication with the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), researchers find that even after accounting for benefits, teachers are paid around 11 percent less than comparable workers. Moreover, this “teacher pay penalty” has more than quadrupled between 1996 and 2017.
The New Wave of Local Minimum Wage Policies: Evidence from Six Cities
A new study analyzes the effects of minimum wage policies in the six large US cities that were first to raise the minimum wage above $10. The study finds that the policies increased pay without reducing employment.
What Really Caused the Great Recession?
The authors find evidence of widespread predatory lending and securities fraud prior to onset of the Great Recession. They then explore how misguided macroeconomic assumptions by decision makers at the Federal Reserve resulted in missed warning signs.
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
The Minimum Wage, EITC, and Criminal Recidivism
A study of nearly six million prisoners reveals that increases in the minimum wage substantially reduce recidivism.
The Effects of Medicaid Expansion on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Border Counties
Based on data from contiguous border counties, expansion of Medicaid appears to have a limited effect on employment and no effect on wages.
UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education (Labor Center)
Driverless? Autonomous Trucks and the Future of the American Trucker
A new study examines the potential integration of autonomous trucks into specific segments of the trucking industry, and its implications for the quality of trucking jobs. It predicts that some jobs will be lost while others are created, but that the quality of the new jobs will be inferior to those that are lost.
Urban Institute
How Affordable Housing Providers Can Boost Residents’ Economic Mobility
Affordable housing and service providers distill several lessons from attempts to support sustainable autonomy-building among residents. These include compensating residents for workforce training, integrating property management and resident services, individualizing services to match residents’ economic goals, and extending the time frame for support services.
