Structural change in the economy is causing economic stress in rural America, especially in areas with a heavy dependence on agriculture, mining and energy, and manufacturing. This contrasts sharply with the 1970s, when widespread economic growth and vitality were the dominant rural themes. Rural economies in the 1980s are characterized by slow…

This four-chapter book explains how the structure of job opportunities in the United States has changed over the past 20 years as the economy has changed from goods production to service employment; it links such changes to the issues of displacement policy and worker mobility. It is intended to contribute to the formation of policies and programs…

Seventeen papers review recent changes in the structure and performance of the rural economy and examine alternative policies to facilitate the adjustment of displaced people and their communities. Some point to economic structural change in the 1980s as the cause of financial stress in rural America, in sharp contrast with the 1970s when growth…

Canada has traditionally supported a high level of unemployment benefits and retraining programs for its displaced workers. From the 1960s onward, legislation and attitudes in the business community have been geared toward retraining of workers for high-tech workplaces and the replacement of low-skill jobs with high-skill jobs. With increased…

This document is a thematically organized summary of the proceedings of a seminar that included presentations and reactions to presentations by a field of international researchers on the effects of worldwide structural change on employment, education, and training in the service sector. The papers presented are part of a 10-country study of labor…

This analysis of economic conditions in the United States challenges the view, emphasized during the 1994 Congressional elections, that restraining government social spending and reforming welfare should be the country's top domestic policy priority. It is argued instead that the major domestic priority should be to address an economic environment…

This monograph studies unemployment in relation to labor market vacancies throughout the United States, using a new set of data: the Survey of Firms from the Employment Opportunity Pilot Project, a labor market experiment conducted by the Department of Labor at 28 sites in 1979 and 1980. The monograph is organized in five chapters. The first…

Researched by the Office of Technology Assistance in response to a number of Congressional committees, this summary report addresses the long-term issues that technology and certain other factors will have on U.S. agriculture during the remainder of this century. It focuses on the relationship of technology to the following: (1) agricultural…

This report is an overview of the current status of farmers in the U.S. economy, with an emphasis on the characteristics of displaced farmers, the reasons for their displacement, the effects of their displacement on the economy, and some policy recommendations for the future. Following an executive summary, the report is organized in five…

The study described in this report sought to determine why industrial plants become no longer economically viable and how to prevent this from happening prematurely. Conducted in Cleveland (Ohio) for the Cleveland Tomorrow Committee, the research was done by the McKinsey and Company staff, who interviewed chief executives, conducted case studies,…

Three important human capital questions must be addressed by U.S. policy makers: What are the effects of employer-sponsored training? Do employers invest enough in employee training? and How will accelerating technological change affect the need for employer-sponsored training and for complementary investments in education? Four policy…

The Defense Conversion Adjustment (DCA) Demonstration, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Work-Based Learning, consisted of 19 demonstration projects that used three approaches to alleviate the negative impacts of defense cutbacks on communities, firms, and workers: community planning, dislocation aversion, and worker…

This compilation is intended to assist the general public in gaining a further understanding of the work of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources to provide legislative assistance to Americans who are economically disadvantaged or structurally unemployed. The texts of the following pieces of federal legislation are included: the Job Training…

Inner-city business development is often proposed as a solution to inner-city poverty. However, research evidence suggests that creating new jobs in the inner city is unlikely by itself to increase significantly the employment or earnings of the inner-city poor. Public subsidies for inner-city business development may be justified by greater…

The world needs a socioeconomic strategy--a set of interrelated policies that recognize that social and institutional changes at all levels of society are necessary to realize fully the technical and economic potential of new technologies. An assessment and dissemination of how different countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and…