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The Fruits of Our Labor: Essays on Work and Its Impacts
Get PDFThese essays explore the modern workplace and how it impacts low-wage workers. The research focuses on the various ways low-wage work interacts with constraints and obligations inside and outside of work, including the effects of wage-setting decisions on productivity and retention among warehouse workers and customer service representatives, reasons underpinning the gender-pay gap among unionized bus and train operators, whether work obligations may be at fault for failure to appear at court dates, and why firms may be loath to offer remote work possibilities despite their effect on worker productivity. My work utilizes a number of different methods, including natural experiments, randomized controlled trials, and surveys. Each paper has leveraged data specific to the firm or organization I study. Together, these essays aim to understand various different forces that are at play when firms are making key personnel decisions—such as how much to pay and the location of work—and when workers are optimizing, given the decisions that firms have made
Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessments (RESEA) in Maryland: Process Analysis Report
Get PDFBlack Suburbanization: Causes and Consequences of a Transformation of American Cities
Get PDFSince 1970, the share of Black individuals living in suburbs of large cities has risen from 16 to 36 percent. This shift is as large as the post-World War II wave of the Great Migration. We first show that Black suburbanization has led to major changes in neighborhoods, accounting for a large share of recent increases in both the average Black individual’s neighborhood quality and within-Black income segregation. We then show that changes in relative suburban amenities and housing prices explain about 60 and 30 percent, respectively, of Black suburbanization, while regional reallocation, changing educational attainment, and gentrification play only minor roles
Measuring Local Job Distress
Get PDFIn this paper, estimates are presented on short-run effects of demand shocks on a local labor market’s employment to population ratio (employment rate). Based on the estimates, commuting zones (CZs) better define a local labor market than counties, because both employment and employment rate effects exhibit large spillovers across counties within a CZ. In addition, the estimates suggest that demand shock effects vary, by an amount that is both statistically and substantively significant, with a CZ’s prior overall employment rate
The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Evolving Impacts on the Labor Market: Who’s Been Hurt and What We Should Do
No full textIn this paper, we shed light on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market, and how they have evolved over most of the year 2020. Relying primarily on microdata from the CPS and state-level data on virus caseloads, mortality, and policy restrictions, we consider a range of employment outcomes—including permanent layoffs, which generate large and lasting costs—and how these outcomes vary across demographic groups, occupations, and industries over time. We also examine how these employment patterns vary across different states, according to the timing and severity of virus caseloads, deaths, and closure measures. We find that the labor market recovery of the summer and early fall stagnated in late fall and early winter. As noted by others, we find low-wage and minority workers are hardest hit initially, but that recoveries have varied, and not always consistently, between Blacks and Hispanics. Statewide business closures and other restrictions on economic activity reduce employment rates concurrently, but do not seem to have lingering effects once relaxed. In contrast, virus deaths— but not caseloads—not only depress current employment, but produce accumulating harm. We conclude with policy options for states to repair their labor markets
Bedford County Economic Needs Assessment
Get PDFBedford County Development Association (BCDA) engaged Juniper Solutions (“Juniper”) and The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research (“Upjohn”), collectively the “Team,” to study the current economic conditions of Bedford County to assess potential opportunities from a workforce development and commercial real estate perspective. As part of this effort, the initial process entailed creating a baseline assessment leveraging a multitude of data sources, ranging from U.S. Census Bureau to subscription-based platforms like CoStar for commercial real estate and BurningGlass for job posting metrics. During the quantitative data collection, the the Team also met with stakeholders including public officials, County administrators, real estate brokers, and local workforce development experts to gather qualitative information. The interviews were focused on how the County can position itself for future growth opportunities, while identifying the current hurdles and setbacks
Economic Outlook for Lakeshore Advantage: Getting to 2030
Get PDFLakeshore Advantage, a nonprofit economic development organization serving businesses in Allegan and Ottawa counties, teamed up with the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research to better understand the long-term economic health of its region. The Upjohn Institute conducted an analysis of Allegan and Ottawa counties to hone in on the strengths of these communities and offer insights on where improvements are needed to grow the region and achieve Lakeshore Advantage’s 2030 goals which include ranking at or above selected comparative communities for median household income, average annual pay, total employment growth, and educational attainment. This study includes an examination of the region’s population, income, employment, mobility, and migration and examines how these factors interconnect in achieving Lakeshore Advantage’s 2030 goals. A literature review of features common to successful communities additionally reveals a needed special focus on industry diversification and specialization, educational attainment, and broadband services. The report also reveals several conclusions and key takeaways concerning the Lakeshore Advantage Region