The Structure of the Wage Gap for Temporary Workers: Evidence from Australian Panel Data

This study uses panel data for Australia to estimate the wage differential between workers in temporary jobs and workers in permanent jobs. It is the first study to use unconditional quantile regression methods in combination with fixed effects to examine how this gap varies over the entire wage distribution. While the wages of fixed‐term contract workers are found to be similar to those of permanent workers, low‐paid casual workers experience a wage penalty and high‐paid casual workers a wage premium compared to their permanent counterparts. Temporary agency workers also usually receive a wage premium, which is particularly large for the most well paid.     

Earnings Inequality and Unions in Canada

This paper reports research examining differences in the earnings distributions of unionized and non–unionized workers and the impact of union status on the likelihood of a worker being in each region of the earnings distribution. Average earnings of unionized workers are shown to be higher than those of non–union workers in the first four quintiles, but lower than average earnings of non–unionized workers in the top quintile. Union effects are greatest among workers situated in the lower and middle regions of the distribution, and benefit workers who are typically disadvantaged in the labour market.     

Temporary Help Service Workers: Employment Characteristics and Wage Determination

This paper studies temporary help service (THS) workers, a growing component of the secondary labor market. It analyzes two samples of workers in the same four clerical occupations-bookkeepers, typists, key-punch operators, and clerks. The two samples-one for workers employed via a large THS firm in Israel, the other for full-time, non-THS workers drawn from the 1983 Israeli Census-are compared for demographic and human capital characteristics, wage levels, and wage regressions. The results lead us to conclude that viewing THS workers as a homogeneous group of "secondary" workers is not warranted.     

What did unions do for union workers during the COVID-19 pandemic?

This research examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour market outcomes of union workers, based on nationally representative data. I employ the difference-in-difference estimation to identify the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment, labour earnings and other labour market outcomes of union workers, relative to non-union workers. I find that, compared to non-union workers, union workers experienced greater job security, and the pre-pandemic union wage premium remained largely unchanged during the pandemic. There exists a large heterogeneity in the union effect on employment and real wages by worker characteristic. I also find that union workers, compared to non-union workers, were less likely to work remotely but more likely to receive pay for hours not worked due to COVID-19. The results suggest that unions provided workers with employment stability and an economic buffer during the pandemic-led recession.     

How Does China's New Labour Contract Law Affect Floating Workers?

China's new Labour Contract Law took effect in January 2008 and required firms to give migrant workers written contracts, strengthened labour protections for workers and contained penalties for firms that did not follow the labour code. This article uses survey data of migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta before and after the law, and a retrospective question on when workers received their first labour contract to assess the effects of the law on labour outcomes. The evidence shows that the new law increased the percentage of migrant workers with written contracts, which in turn raised social insurance coverage, reduced the likelihood of wage arrears and raised the likelihood that workers had a union at their workplace.     

加强返乡农民工创业教育培训研究

2008年,以起始于美国的金融危机为导火索,中国出现了大规模的农民工返乡潮。农民工返乡给就业形势原本就十分严峻的农村带来新的压力。如何做好返乡农民工的就业问题就显得尤为重要。而通过农民工创业教育培训提高农民工素质和就业技能,对于实现返乡农民工就业和推动新农村建设具有积极的推进作用。文章以农民工返乡为背景,结合我国农民教育培训发展的现状,探讨如何加强农民工创业教育培训问题,并提出具体的对策建议。     

建立和完善农民工社会保障的思考

在科学发展观下努力建设社会主义和谐社会的今天,农民工群体日益成为我国劳动力市场的一大生力军,一个发展国民经济不可或缺的部分,但农民工群体存在的问题特别是社会保障问题很不尽人意,农民工社会保障备受社会关注。正视问题并分析积极探讨解决对策势在必行。本文从我国农民工社会保障问题入手,通过对我国农民工社会保障的现状分析,提出一些建设性对策。     

Reasons for Hiring Part-Time Workers

Based on a survey of organizations that have collective agreements covering part-time workers, this study reveals that flexibility in scheduling work and employees' preference for part-time work are the two most important reasons for hiring part-time workers in unionized organizations. Unlike most of the literature on part-time work and workers, this study's results suggest that savings in wages and benefits are of minor importance in hiring part-time workers covered by collective agreements.     

制度短缺与劳工短缺——"民工荒"问题研究

本文认为,在劳动力市场信息不充分的条件下,外来工（农民工）主要（只能）通过私人网络关系去寻找工作。利用网络寻找工作不一定能使他们得到工资较高的工作岗位．却可以节省找工成本。由于外来工工资较低,所以,他们不能安心在所在企业工作,因而有较高的流动率。高流动率造成了劳工短缺即“民工荒”。作为群体的外来工之所以工资低,主要是最低工资标准丧失了调节作用,这是基本的、直接的制度缺陷。外来工的高流动性还塑造了劳资关系双方的短期行为。本文还进一步讨论了农民工高流动率和不能转化为真正的职业工人的制度背景．这就是“半工半耕”和城乡二元户籍划分的正式制度、乡土社会的传统社会规范和社会公众（包括农民工自身）对农民工的认知心理等非正式制度。     

Sectoral Productivity and the Distribution of Wages

Policy reports suggesting that productivity growth will raise the earnings of low-wage workers are based on the concept that gains from productivity will trickle down to raise the wages of workers at the lower end of the wage distribution. The compensation and employment systems of American industry do strongly link gains in industry productivity to wage increases for most workers. However, this analysis finds that the linkage of productivity change to wage change for the workers at the lower end of the distribution is virtually nonexistent. The empirical results of this study suggest that productivity increases have no effect on the wage change of workers at the lowest 10th percentile of the distribution and widen the dispersion in industry wages.     

农村劳动力转移与中国城市农民工市场的波动——兼论新《劳动法》对农民工市场的影响

中国城市具有二元劳动力市场结构,农民工市场属于第二劳动力市场。农民工市场的均衡模型表明,供需弹性的相对大小会影响农民工市场的自动调节,进而引起农民工市场的均衡与波动。以城市劳动力市场的构成以及城市农民工市场的波动情况为视角,中国农村劳动力向城市的转移可分为三个阶段。2003年以前城市农民工市场可以自动达到供求均衡,而2004年以后则交替出现＂民工荒＂和失业等劳动力市场的缺口,主要是由于农民工市场的供给和需求弹性的相对大小发生了变化。新《劳动法》增加了企业的用工成本,但尚无法确定其是否会改变供需弹性的相对大小,因而也无法确定是否引起了农民工市场的波动。短期内,政府可以通过影响供需弹性的相对大小来降低城市农民工市场的波动,长期而言,只有采取有力措施变城市二元劳动力市场为一元劳动力市场,才能从根本上解决我国农民工市场的波动问题。     

Strategic promotion tournaments and worker performance

In this analysis I study promotion schemes as human resource management strategies by which the firm can realize strategic goals by motivating workers to higher levels of effort and performance. Using information on promotions, wages, and performance for professional workers in a cross‐section of establishments in four metropolitan areas of the United States, I investigate empirically the proposition that firms strategically organize promotion tournaments to motivate workers to higher levels of performance. I present evidence suggesting that relative performance of workers determines promotions, supporting the notion of internal promotion competitions in which internal hiring policies and fixed job slots combine to create competitions among workers of a given rank in a firm. I then estimate a structural model of promotion tournaments that simultaneously accounts for worker and firm behavior and how the interaction of these behaviors gives rise to promotions. The results are consistent with the prediction of tournament theory that workers are motivated by larger spreads. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Manufacturing Plants' Use of Temporary Workers: An Analysis Using Census Microdata

Using plant‐level data from the plant capacity utilization survey, we explore how manufacturing plants' use of temporary workers is associated with the nature of their output fluctuations and other plant characteristics. We find that plants tend to use temporary workers when their output is expected to fall; this may indicate that firms use temporary workers to reduce costs associated with dismissing permanent employees. In addition, we find that plants whose future output levels are subject to greater uncertainty tend to use more temporary workers. We also examine the effects of wage and benefit levels for permanent workers, unionization rates, turnover rates, seasonal factors, and plant size and age on the use of temporary workers; based on our results, we discuss various views of why firms use temporary workers.     

Work–Life Balance and the Demand for Reduction in Working Hours: Evidence from the British Social Attitudes Survey 2002

Work–life balance policies aimed at reducing working hours are often assumed to be of particular interest to workers with family responsibilities such as young children. Although workers in Britain report the kind of time‐stress envisaged by the debate over a ‘long‐hours culture’, there is little relationship between workers’ family situation and preferences for working fewer hours. Women workers’ hours already reflect family commitments to some extent, while families with young children may need the income levels that only substantial working hours bring. Conversely workers without family commitments may have more capacity to swap income or career progression for increased leisure time.     

农民工市民化进程中养老保险制度融合研究

本文首先运用较为详实和权威的数据对农民工养老保险的现状进行了分析,然后从制度因素、经济因素、农民工自身因素等多个方面对制约农民工社会保障融合的因素进行了详尽论述。最后对养老保险融合机制的构建进行了有意义的探索和研究,以期能在决策层建设农民工社会保障的实践操作中提供建设性建议。     

The Influence of Regular Work Systems on Compensation for Contingent Workers

Using data from a nationally representative survey of U.S. establishments, this article explores how features of regular work influence outcomes for contingent workers. The results show that firms combine regular and contingent work in varied ways: Some managers design contingent work to achieve performance objectives not possible with the regular workforce, whereas managers in other cases create contingent jobs to reinforce the same goals as regular work. In the latter case, contingent workers are more likely to be integrated with regular workers and to receive benefits. Benefit provision for contingent workers is also influenced by traditional internal labor market rules and by spillover effects in which efficiency or regulatory requirements lead benefits to be extended to contingent staff once offered to regular workers.     

如何促进农民工定居城市

农民工选择非永久迁移是在约束条件下的一种理性选择，而这种非永久迁移却给经济增长带来许多负面影响，促进农民工定居城市已成为急需解决的问题。文章通过分析在促进农民工定居城市过程中的利益格局，从协调城乡间利益矛盾，减少制度变迁摩擦成本的角度，提出了促进农民工定居城市的路径选择。     

When Do Companies Train Low-Skilled Workers? The Role of Institutional Arrangements at the Company and Sectoral Level

The article investigates how institutional arrangements at the organizational and sectoral level affect the likelihood and size of employer investments in continuing training for low-skilled workers in Germany. By building on comparative political economy and organizational theory, hypotheses are derived and tested. Regression analysis based on the IAB Establishment Survey (waves 2011 and 2013) shows evidence that the training participation of low-skilled workers is related to institutional differences between sectors and organizations. At the organizational level, structures of employee representation and formalized HR policies are positively associated with higher rates of training participation among low-skilled workers. Moreover, there is evidence that low-skilled workers benefit in organizational clusters that are characterized by structures of employee representation, formalized HR practices, and bargaining coverage. At the sectoral level, this study finds evidence that low-skilled workers in the health care and manufacturing sector are more likely to receive continuing training.     

Satei (Personal Assessment) and Interworker Competition in Japanese Firms

Satei (personal assessment) has an important influence on the rate of promotion and amount of monthly pay of Japanese workers, resulting in widespread interworker competition. The existence of satei is partially responsible for limited leisure time and high obedience to management among Japanese workers. Individual workers and enterprise unions, however, generally accept the satei system.     

Do Changes in Regulation Affect Temporary Agency Workers’ Job Satisfaction?

This paper evaluates how a reform relaxing regulations of the temporary help service sector in Germany affected job satisfaction of male temporary agency workers. We isolate the causal effect of this reform by combining a difference‐in‐difference and matching approach using rich survey data. We find that the regulatory change substantially decreased agency workers’ job satisfaction while leaving regular workers’ job satisfaction unchanged. Further analysis reveals that the negative effect on agency workers’ job satisfaction can be attributed to a decrease in wages and an increase in perceived job insecurity. These results are robust to the use of different specifications and placebo tests.