Affirmative action: Federal support,supreme court decisions,and human resource management

This article explores the historical background of affirmative action in the United States, and reviews haw federal support for it has changed since the Civil War. Several recent US Supreme Court cases deciding affirmative action issues are discussed, with speculation about the future of affirmative action in light of these decisions. The article also discusses the implications of these rulings for human resource practitioners.     

Drug testing and the law

This article examines judicial and administrative rulings and legislation involving or related to the issue of drug testing in the workplace. It discusses the rights of employees in the public and private sector: constitutional rights; federal, state, and local statutory rights; rights of unionized employees; and common law rights. It analyzes both the current state of the law and future directions the law may take, as courts and administrative agencies decide more cases and governmental bodies continue to pass drug testing legislation.     

Fragmented government and the us urban fiscal crisis

Book reviewed in this article: Alcaly, R. and Mermelstein, D. 1977: The fiscal crisis of American cities: essays on the political economy of urban America with special reference to New York. MacManus, S. 1978: Revenue patterns in US cities and suburbs: a comparative analysis. Passell, P. and Ross, L. 1978: State policies and federal programs: priorities and constraints.     

Review of no-fault absenteeism cases taken to arbitration, 1980–1989: A rights and responsibilities analysis

No-fault absenteeism control programs represent an emerging counterpoint to traditional misconduct-based approaches. By altering the policies governing absence in the work place, the rights and responsibilities of both the employee and employer may be modified. This article examines the arbitral standards applied in the disposition of grievances arising under no-fault absenteeism plans. Arbitration cases from 1980 to 1989 are analyzed; a taxonomic structure for reviewing arbitrator rulings on the unilateral imposition of no-fault programs, as well as discipline and discharge arising under no-fault policies, is developed. While advocates of no-fault plans have asserted that arbitrators will embrace these plans, the results of this analysis indicate that arbitrators will infuse standard elements of reasonableness and just cause into no-fault policy. Trends in arbitral standards in absence cases, policy-making strategies for managements and unions, as well as implications for the rights and responsibilities of employees and employers are outlined.     

The Effects of local Fair Housing Ordinances on Housing Segregation: Their Impact Is Small, But It's an Important Positive Change Toward Integration

Abstract . State and local fair housing ordinances, patterned after federal legislation, are promoted by federal policy. This study investigates whether these local laws have had any effect on levels of residential segregation between Whites and Blacks, 1970-1980, by comparing changes in segregation for 111 cities characterized by different types of fair housing coverage. Results show average declines of 9 points in the index of dissimilarity, with cities covered by both state and local laws declining slightly more than cities with no fair housing coverage. Declines are not greater in cities with laws that are “substantially equivalent” to Title VIII vs. cities with non-equivalent laws. When changes in segregation were examined by a variety of population, economic and housing variables that may affect segregation change, it was found that local ordinances continue to have a small, but statistically significant effect. This effect varies according to the pattern of segregation change under study; deconcentration of ghetto areas and integration of White areas are not affected by type of local fair housing coverage.     

Input Suppliers,Differential Pricing,and Information Sharing Agreements

It is common for firms to systematically share information with their input suppliers. Although such agreements with horizontal rivals have been analyzed, there has been little work examining vertical sharing, and that analysis has focused on suppliers that set uniform prices. However, there has been a systematic change in the US policy toward vertical relationships in the past decades: both FTC inaction and courts rulings have curtailed the effect of Robinson‐Patman, a law meant to prevent differential pricing. Furthermore, it is not clear if differential pricing reflects the suppliers' or the buyers' power. The interaction of these effects is examined.     

Solving the “Lachmann Problem”: Orientation,Individualism, and the Causal Explanation of Socioeconomic Order

This article examines the question of whether social institutions should be treated as possessing the sui generis causal power to influence people's actions. It does so by means of a case study of the work of the Austrian economist Ludwig Lachmann. Lachmann's account of how social institutions facilitate intentional human agency in the face of uncertainty contains significant ambiguities and tensions, stemming from his reluctance to acknowledge the causal efficacy of social institutions. The conceptual resources required to overcome these problems are to be found in realist social philosophy and social theory. The proposed resolution comes at a price, however, for it calls into question Lachmann's self‐avowed commitment to methodological individualism.     

Employment Discrimination and the International Workplace: A Review of Recent US Court Rulings

The extraterritoriality clause in the Civil Rights Act of 1991 amended Title VII and the ADA to include employment discrimination protection for US citizens working abroad for US employers. A review of recent court rulings demonstrates an absence of lawsuits involving alleged violations of the extraterritorial provision. Instead, recent cases show that Americans working outside of the US are filing charges against foreign employers rather than US employers and applying state level employment statutes rather than federal legislation. In addition, non US citizens are exhibiting a trend toward invoking US federal and state statutes against US employers. These cases are reviewed and implications discussed for managing employment relations in an increasingly international workplace.

Recent evidence on the impact of government budget deficits on the ex ante real interest rate yield on Moody’s Baa-rated corporate bonds

This study provides recent empirical evidence on the impact of the federal budget deficit on the ex ante real interest rate yield on Moody’s Baa-rated corporate bonds. The study is couched within an open loanable funds model that includes the ex ante real short term real interest rate, the M1 money supply, net international capital inflows, and the unemployment rate. Using quarterly data for the period 1973.1–2007.4, two-stage least squares estimation reveals that the federal budget deficit, expressed as a percent of GDP, exercised a positive and statistically significant impact on the ex ante real interest rate yield on these corporate issues.     

Bureaucrats as "Social Engineers": Federal Welfare Programs in Herbert Hoover's America

A bstract . Historians interested in 20th century American reform often seek to analyze the ideologies of political leaders separately from the institutions that these same leaders created. Such emphases on ideas, as opposed to actions, has, for example, led "revisionist" American historians to argue that the presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt were "conceptually continuous." Our examination of the major social welfare programs undertaken by the federal government in the 1920s disputes this claim. Examination of the operations of the federal bureaucracy instead of the rhetoric of politicians demonstrates the existence of decided policy differences between the Hoover and Roosevelt eras. "Efficiency" analogues dominant during the Hoover era were replaced with "direct service-provider" approaches which created a clear distinction between private and public welfare programs. Elements of "continuity" between the two eras have been overdrawn. Background is provided for increased understanding of some of the policy implications of America's contemporary welfare debate—particularly about "rehabilitation" strategies and/or rationales for action in the social welfare field.     

The Significance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the 21st Century: Will Such Institutions of Higher Learning Survive?

The United States is still dealing with institutional racism in higher education. For most of the past two centuries, African Americans were forced to attend segregated colleges and universities. Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) played a particularly important role during that long period. In many states, there would have been no institutions of higher education at all, were it not for federal legislation (the Morrill Act of 1890), the actions of religious institutions, and the persistent efforts of black Americans to gain an education, despite the obstacles. Even the seemingly race‐neutral G.I. Bill of 1944 had the pernicious effect of reinforcing racial segregation in both higher education and housing. Given this history, it comes as no surprise that some predominantly white institutions of higher education (PWIs) do not show a sustained commitment to educate African‐American students in this country, although they are often eager to recruit black student athletes for their various sport programs without much regard to the education received by those same athletes. Our inability as a nation to even talk intelligently about these intractable educational problems is disturbing. Indeed, diversity is not paramount for some PWIs, particularly in regards to hiring minority faculty. Perhaps more significantly, HBCUs are still necessary in our society today because they have been the mainstay of educating African Americans at the college and university levels. Black communities throughout our nation are still being devastated by economic polarization and by racial discrimination endemic to higher education at white institutions. The need to address the problem of racial discrimination in higher education remains as strong as ever.     

Clarifying the Boundaries of Sexual Harassment and Employer Liability: Judicial Application of Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc.

Many had anticipated that Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., the first significant Supreme Court ruling on sexual harassment since 1986, would clarify the boundary between merely offensive conduct and unlawful conduct, and would offer greater guidance on when an employer is liable for the creation of an abusive (or hostile) work environment. However, the Harris court handed down only a short, narrow decision that left these areas largely unresolved, and, accordingly, it was widely criticized for circumventing contentious issues and for perpetuating the vague framework under which abusive work environment claims are now analyzed. This article examines a representative cross-section of federal and state decisions that have interpreted and applied Harris to evaluate whether courts have achieved any consensus on what constitutes an abusive work environment and on when an employer is liable for this type of sexual harassment.     

Public Choice and Urban Water Quality*

Abstract . It is the purpose of this paper to examine critically the choice of “zero discharge” as me ultimate goal of our federal water pollution policy and to demonstrate that a goal of 90 percent removal of pollutants from effluents of urban areas will be more economically efficient. Our results indicate that in reaching “Zero discharge,” there is a minimal return in water quality for urban areas which are located on large bodies of water. The final conclusion is that the substantial resources, which would be required to surpass the level of 90 percent removal of pollutants, could be employed more effectively in other social programs.     

The Implications of ADA Litigation for Employers: A Review of Federal Appellate Court Decisions

Analysis of litigation outcomes indicates that most plaintiffs who sue under the Americans with Disabilities Act are unsuccessful. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforcement data and six years of federal appellate court decisions were reviewed, as well as recent rulings of the United States Supreme Court. The courts are interpreting the ADA very narrowly, and very few plaintiffs prevail. The results of this research suggest that if employers engage in an individualized assessment of whether an individual is protected by the law and whether the requested accommodation is reasonable, legal liability will be minimized. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Addressing the Growing Inadequacies of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ellerth</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">Faragher</Emphasis> Affirmative Defense: Fashioning a Sensible and Feasible Solution

Public policy seeks an equitable balance between the rights and duties of both employers and employees in creating a workplace free of sexual harassment. This goal is particularly difficult to achieve when supervisors create a hostile work environment. The U.S. Supreme Courts decisions in Ellerth and Faragher created an affirmative defense against vicarious liability for employers, but subsequent applications of these rulings have been inconsistent and problematic. Courts and legislators need to (1) choose the appropriate standard of employer liability for sexual harassment committed by supervisors, and (2) decide what, if any, defenses are available to employers when employees bring claims of sexual harassment. We conclude that holding employers strictly liable while allowing for the limitation of damages based on avoidable consequences, as recently adopted by the California Supreme Court in McGinnis, is preferable to other liability standards and defenses.     

Smoking in the Workplace: Balancing Smoker and Nonsmoker Rights

The tobacco industry presents an interesting American dilemma. While warning against the use of tobacco and striving for a smokeless society the U.S. government subsidizes the growth of tobacco. The economic impact of smoking is, on balance, negative for users, nonusers and society. The federal government does not legislate the use of tobacco but most states and many municipalities have smoking laws. Although such laws vary they normally attempt to protect the rights of both smokers and nonsmokers. Workplace smoking policies also vary but generally focus on applicable laws, health research findings, employee preferences, involvement in policy determination, formalization and communication, and smoking cessation programs.     

Virginia's New Ban on Public Employee Bargaining: A Case Study of Unions, Business, and Political Competition

This article explores the reasons why the Virginia General Assembly passed a law prohibiting public employee bargaining some 16 years after the Virginia Supreme Court had clearly ruled that such bargaining was impermissible absent express statutory authority. The impetus for this legislation apparently was a series of actions by Governor L. Douglas Wilder's administration involving payroll deductions for state employees. The Virginia case is compared and contrasted to the findings of recent aggregate quantitative studies of the determinants of public sector labor relations legislation, illustrating the relative influence of organized business interests over those of labor.     

Politics in the Informalizing Metropolis: Displacement,Resettlement and Unstable Negotiations in Uncivil Ahmedabad

This article documents the displacement of Baoris, an adivasi (indigenous) community living in the city of Ahmedabad, India, and their subsequent resettlement along the city's precarious urban–rural frontier. I argue that this process signals the informalization of rights and territories, representing a political regime of governing in the remaking of the contemporary Indian metropolis. Recent actions taken by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to evict Baoris from the inner city are situated within the entangled processes and politics of urban restructuring, liberalization and Hindu nationalism. The absence and erosion of democratic protections, however, has not precluded the possibility of political negotiations with the local agents of state and capital, and this article assesses the tactics that community residents have deployed in their bid to maintain claims to territory, labour and services. I end by tempering enthusiasm for the informalizing city as a site for realizing alternative forms of justice and possible democratization.     

Tax competition in a fiscal union with decentralized leadership

This paper examines capital tax competition in the presence of an interstate transfer policy without federal commitment. Lack of commitment implies that local tax policy is chosen prior to federal transfers. The paper's main result is that ex-post federal policy neutralizes horizontal fiscal externalities, insulating tax policy from capital mobility. Federal policy, however, introduces a new source of inefficiency unrelated to tax competition. Specifically, ex-post transfer payments prove to be equivalent to an interstate revenue-sharing system which may render federal intervention in the presence of fiscal externalities welfare-deteriorating relative to tax competition.     

Dusk for the pyramid-shaped bureaucracy: examining the shape of the U.S. federal bureaucracy in the twenty first century

The pyramid-shaped hierarchy was the most popular structure for the federal bureaucracy for most of the twentieth century. However, major management reform movements in the late twentieth century, such as new public management, reinventing government, and the national performance review, embrace the common theme of criticizing the traditional bureaucracy. If these efforts to fix the bureaucracy had achieved their anticipated results, the contemporary federal bureaucracy would have become a flattened-pyramid hierarchy with an increased span of control. The current article investigates the structure of the federal bureaucracy from the early 2000s to the present. The findings indicate that the federal bureaucracy is not pyramid shaped but instead is an inverse-calabash shape. In addition, little evidence was found of an increased span of control in the federal bureaucracy. In sum, the goal of the management reforms for changing the structure of the bureaucracy was not fulfilled.