Job Security in America: Lessons from GermanyBrookings Institution, 1993 - 175 pages With the onset of the recession in 1990, job security has moved to the forefront of labor market concerns in the United States. During economic downturns, American employers rely heavily on layoffs to cut their work force, much more than do their counterparts in other industrialized nations. The hardships imposed by these layoffs have led many to ask whether U.S. workers can be offered more secure employment without burdening the companies that employ them. In this book, Katharine Abraham and Susan Houseman address this question by comparing labor adjustment practices in the United States, where existing policies arguably encourage layoffs, with those in Germany, a country with much stronger job protection for workers. From their assessment of the German experience, the authors recommend new public policies that promote alternatives to layoffs and help reduce unemployment. Beginning with an overview of the labor markets in Germany and the United States, Abraham and Houseman emphasize the interaction of various government policies. Stronger job security in Germany has been accompanied by an unemployment insurance system that facilitates short-time work as a substitute for layoffs. In the United States, however, the unemployment insurance system has encouraged layoffs and discouraged the use of work-sharing schemes. The authors examine the effects of job security on the efficiency and equity of labor market adjustment and review trends in U.S. policy. Finally, the authors recommend reforms of the U.S. unemployment insurance system that include stronger experience rating and an expansion of short-time compensation program. They also point to the critical link between job security and the system of worker training in Germany and advocate policies that would encourage more training by U.S. companies. |
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Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Industrial Relations | 11 |
An Overview of Labor Market Performance in | 44 |
Copyright | |
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Job Security in America: Lessons from Germany Katherine G. Abraham,Susan N. Houseman Limited preview - 2010 |
Job Security in America: Lessons from Germany Katharine G. Abraham,Susan N. Houseman No preview available - 1993 |
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advance notice alternatives to layoff Beveridge curve blue-collar workers changes in shipments collective dismissal companies costs council countries Current Population Survey cyclicality demand conditions differences downturns early retirement economic effects employment adjustment employment and hours employment protection laws employment-to-population ratio equations estimates female employment force participation rate foreign workers German and U.S. German employers German unemployment growth hours adjustment hours elasticities industrial relations job security justment labor adjustment labor force participation labor input labor market laid-off workers manufacturing mass layoff ment negotiated Nonproduction workers number of workers OECD older workers percent period ployment primary metals production employment production hours Production workers quarter quarters quarters reduce sector sharing short-time benefits short-time compensation social plan Statistics STC programs taxable wage temporary layoffs trend U.S. employers U.S. industries U.S. policy Unadjusted unem unemployed unemployment benefits unemployment insurance system unemployment insurance taxes unemployment rate unions United wages white-collar workers women workers on short
References to this book
Contests for Corporate Control: Corporate Governance and Economic ... Mary O'Sullivan No preview available - 2000 |
The Dixification of America: The American Odyssey Into the Conservative ... Stephen D. Cummings No preview available - 1998 |