1st Edition

Structural Changes in U.S. Labour Markets Causes and Consequences

    During much of the 1980s, US wage growth has been unexpectedly slow in the face of relatively low unemployment rates and high capacity utilization rates. This collection of papers resulting from the Wage Structure Conference held by the Federal Research Bank of Cleveland, November 1989, helps explain labour market behaviour in that period. The contributors - academic and research economists in labour economics - provide a comprehensive assessment of the current state of the wage-setting process in the US labour market.

    Foreword, Acknowledgments, 1. Overview, 2. International Trade and Money Wage Growth in the 1980s, Comments: Louis Jacobson, 3. Lump-Sum Payments and Wage Moderation in the Union Sector, Comments: Ken Ross, 4. Profit Sharing in the 1980s: Disguised Wages or a Fundamentally Different Form ofCompensation?, Comments: Sharon P. Smith, 5. The Decline of Fringe-Benefit Coverage in the 1980s, Comments: David Lewin, 6. Indexation and Contract Length in Unionized U.S. Manufacturing, Comments: Michael L. Wachter, 7. Gender Differences in Cyclical Unemployment, Comments: Katharine G. Abraham, 8. Macroeconomic Implications, Finn E. Kydland, Contributors, References

    Biography

    Randall E. Eberts, Erica L. Groshen