A 1994-96 survey of Alabama human resource managers indicated that unions deterred the use of flexible arrangements; subcontracting was positively related to core employees' wages; and flexible staffing was associated with core employee hiring costs and low-cost production strategies. Core employees gained job security through use of flexible…

Case studies of six hospitals and five auto parts suppliers showed that in high-skilled occupations, employers paid more to temporary agency help than regular staff. In low-skilled occupations, temporary agencies facilitated use of riskier workers. Temporaries may relieve pressure to raise wages in tight labor markets, perhaps contributing to…

Internal labor market theory and data from two case studies were used to construct four models of contingent work (integration, seasonal, separation, two tier) with different performance objectives, technology, work practices, and worker outcomes. Each model involved practices related to job descriptions, wage, rules, and career ladders that…

British labor-force survey data indicated that the probability of receiving training and the amount of training received were substantially higher in unionized workplaces. (SK)

Analysis of data from a 1998 telecommunications industry survey indicates that institutional pressures and human resource strategies contribute to adoption of nonunion dispute resolution procedures. Employment rights litigation and court deferral to nonunion arbitration led to an increase in mandatory arbitration procedures. Threat of unionization…

Data from a national survey of 2945 employers showed that those most likely to have formal training programs were larger and had high-performance work systems, capital-intensive production, and better-educated workers. More workers were trained in companies with larger investments in physical capital or new forms of work organization. (SK)

Organizational citizenship--behavior that promotes organizations without explicit reward--was measured in a survey of 512 employees and 91 supervisors. Involvement in work organization increased citizenship behavior indirectly by changing job characteristics. Involvement in decisions about employment practices had little or no effect. (SK)

A contingent valuation study of 343 elementary teachers identified circumstances in which they would be willing to provide, through payroll deductions, certain work-family policies/programs. Even those with little or no likelihood of using the programs exhibited willingness to pay for some of them. (SK)

Develops and tests a choice model of National Labor Relations Board members in selected unfair labor practice cases over the 1954-77 period. Evidence supports the popular belief that Board decisions are heavily dependent upon shifting political winds. (Author/JOW)

Multivariate analyses of data from the California Workplace Survey suggested that managers' participation in networks, especially professional and community organizations and internal networks, positively influenced the probability and intensity of adoption of high-performance work practices and training. Multiple affiliations increased the…

This study attempts to isolate the role of discrimination in determining racial differences in occupational structure. Logit techniques are used to identify and distinguish between determinants of the probability that an individual will choose an occupation and the probability that an individual will be hired for a desired job. (JOW)

Data from the 1984 Survey of Income and Program Participation showed that 62% of differences in wages offered to black and white men and 67% of differences in observed wages were not due to productivity differences. Wage discrimination reduced the relative employment rate of black men from 89% to 82% of white men's rate. (SK)

Analysis of data from over 3,000 employers showed that workers who accepted jobs with probationary periods tended to be more efficient and less likely to quit. Possibly workers who think they will not last through the probationary period will not take such jobs, whereas those with confidence in their performance will select such jobs, which…

A content analysis of 153 Federal court cases charging violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act showed that 57 percent were brought on behalf of white males in professional and managerial occupations; women were more successful plaintiffs; and employers won nearly two out of three cases. (Author/SK)