Foundations of Labor and Employment Law

by Estreicher, Samuel

• ISBN13: 9781566629928
• ISBN10: 1566629926
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: Foundation Pr

Summary

This publication is an edited collection of articles displaying leading interdisciplinary thinking in regard to both labor and employment law. The contents are broadly grouped into four parts: frameworks for analyzing labor markets; regulation of labor relations; legal regulation of employment contracts; and the future of labor and employment law. Articles reflect topics such as the changing face of industrial relations, the decline of private sector unionism, employment at will, minimum wages and pensions, looking abroad, reforming unions and labor law, and models for an individualistic future.

Table of Contents

Part I Frameworks for Analyzing Labor Markets	1	(120)
Models of the Labor Market	1	(39)
Price-Theory Model of the Labor Market	2	(14)
``Who Bears the Burden of a Payroll Tax?''	5	(2)
Ronald G. Ehrenberg
Robert S. Smith
Notes and Questions	7	(4)
``Labor Markets and Labor Law Compared with Capital Markets and Corporate Law''	11	(4)
Daniel R. Fischel
Note	15	(1)
Internal Labor Markets and Relational Employment Contracts	16	(9)
``The Economics of Internal Labor Markets''	18	(5)
Michael L. Wachter
Randall D. Wright
Notes and Questions	23	(2)
Changing Employment Markets	25	(6)
``Contingent Workers''	26	(1)
U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce
Notes	27	(4)
The Level and Distribution of Earnings	31	(9)
Models of Unions	40	(45)
The Monopoly Face	40	(25)
The Theory of Monopoly Unions	40	(2)
``Some Comments on the Significance of Labor Unions for Economic Policy''	42	(2)
Milton Friedman
Notes and Questions	44	(3)
``A Bargaining Analysis of American Labor Law and the Search for Bargaining Equity and Industrial Peace''	47	(1)
Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt
Notes and Questions	48	(2)
Efficient Collective Bargaining, or the ``Off the Demand Curve'' Model	50	(4)
Median Voter Models of Unions	54	(1)
``Monopoly, Efficient Contract, and Median Voter Models of Union Wage Determination: A Critical Comparison''	55	(9)
Bruce E. Kaufman
Jorge Martinez-Vazquez
Notes and Questions	64	(1)
Evidence on Union Wage Effects	65	(4)
Unions as Providers of Collective Goods	69	(8)
``The Two Faces of Unionism''	69	(5)
Richard B. Freeman
James L. Medoff
Notes and Questions	74	(3)
Union Effects on Profitability	77	(8)
``But Unionism Lowers Profits''	77	(2)
Richard B. Freeman
James L. Medoff
``Unionization and Economic Performance''	79	(5)
Barry T. Hirsch
Note	84	(1)
The Changing Face of Industrial Relations: Decline of Private Sector Unionism	85	(36)
Structural Shifts	86	(11)
``Is the U.S. Unique in the Decline of Private Sector Unionism?''	86	(8)
Leo Troy
Notes and Questions	94	(3)
Demand Shifts	97	(7)
``Union Membership in the United States: The Decline Continues''	97	(6)
Henry S. Farber
Alan B. Krueger
Notes and Questions	103	(1)
Employer Opposition	104	(8)
``Promises to Keep: Securing Workers' Rights to Self-Organization Under the NLRA''	105	(2)
Paul C. Weiler
Notes and Questions	107	(5)
Union Wage Policy and Product Market Competition	112	(9)
``Evaluating the Evidence on Union Employment and Wages''	112	(4)
Peter D. Linneman
Michael L. Wachter
William H. Carter
``Labor Law Reform in a World of Competitive Product Markets''	116	(3)
Samuel Estreicher
Notes and Questions	119	(2)
Part II Regulation of Labor Relations	121	(76)
Goals and Institutional Features of Federal Labor Law	121	(41)
Redistribution	121	(9)
``Inflation, Unemployment and the Wagner Act: A Critical Reappraisal''	122	(4)
Daniel J. B. Mitchell
Notes and Questions	126	(2)
``Whither Goest Labor Law: Law and Economics in the Workplace''	128	(2)
Michael H. Gottesman
Routinization of Industrial Conflict	130	(4)
``The Post-War Paradigm in American Labor Law''	131	(3)
Katherine Van Wezel Stone
Notes and Questions	134	(1)
Institutional Features	134	(28)
Adversarialism	135	(1)
``Employee Involvement and the `Company Union' Prohibition: The Case for Partial Repeal of the Section 8(a)(2) of the NLRA''	135	(5)
Samuel Estreicher
``Democracy and Domination in the Law of Workplace Cooperation: From Bureaucracy to Flexible Production''	140	(3)
Mark Barenberg
Notes and Questions	143	(2)
Scope of Bargaining	145	(1)
``The Scope of the Duty to Bargain Concerning Business Transformations''	145	(5)
Michael C. Harper
Notes and Questions	150	(1)
Strikes	151	(1)
``Replacing Economic Strikers: The Law and Economics Approach''	151	(2)
George M. Cohen
Michael L. Wachter
``Collective Bargaining or `Collective Begging?': Reflections on Antistrikebreaker Legislation''	153	(5)
Samuel Estreicher
Notes and Questions	158	(4)
The Law and Economics of Federal Labor Laws	162	(35)
``Efficiency and Labor Law''	163	(5)
Keith N. Hylton
Notes and Questions	168	(1)
``Collective Bargaining and the Coase Theorem''	169	(11)
Stewart J. Schwab
Notes and Questions	180	(1)
``Labor Bargaining Units''	180	(8)
Douglas L. Leslie
Notes and Questions	188	(1)
``The Law and Economics of Collective Bargaining: An Introduction and Application to the Problems of Subcontracting, Partial Closure, and Relocation''	189	(7)
Michael L. Wachter
George M. Cohen
Notes and Questions	196	(1)
Part III Legal Regulation of Employment Contracts	197	(100)
Mandating Minimum Terms	198	(25)
``Individual Employment Rights and the Standard Economic Objection: Theory and Empiricism''	199	(6)
Steven L. Willborn
Notes and Questions	205	(6)
``The Law and Economics Approach to Workplace Regulation''	211	(2)
Stewart J. Schwab
Notes and Questions	213	(2)
``Some Simple Economics of Mandated Benefits''	215	(6)
Lawrence H. Summers
Notes and Questions	221	(2)
Employment at Will	223	(45)
``In Defense of the Contract at Will''	224	(8)
Richard A. Epstein
Notes and Questions	232	(2)
``Just Cause for Termination Rules and Economic Efficiency''	234	(9)
Mayer G. Freed
Daniel D. Polsby
Notes and Questions	243	(3)
``Life-Cycle Justice: Accommodating Just Cause and Employment at Will''	246	(10)
Stewart J. Schwab
Notes and Questions	256	(2)
``An Empirical Perspective on Indefinite Term Employment Contracts: Resolving the Just Cause Debate''	258	(3)
J. Hoult Verkerke
Notes and Questions	261	(2)
``Labor and Lemons: Efficient Norms in the Internal Labor Market and the Possible Failures of Individual Contracting''	263	(3)
Walter Kamiat
Notes and Questions	266	(2)
Topics in Employment Regulation: Minimum Wages and Pensions	268	(29)
Minimum Wage Regulation	268	(11)
``The Minimum Wage, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and Optimal Subsidy Policy''	268	(10)
Daniel Shaviro
Notes and Questions	278	(1)
Pension Regulation	279	(18)
``The Troubled Marriage of Retirement Security and Tax Polices''	279	(3)
Michael J. Graetz
Notes and Questions
``Paternalistic Pension Policy: Psychological Evidence and Economic Theory''	282	(10)
Deborah Weiss
Notes and Questions	292	(5)
Part IV The Future of Labor and Employment Law	297	(104)
Looking Abroad	297	(56)
Perfecting Redistributive Unionism: The Canadian Model	298	(9)
From Uniformity to Divergence: Industrial Relations in Canada and the United States	298	(2)
Pradeep Kumar
Small Differences That Matter: Canada vs. The United States	300	(3)
David Card
Richard B. Freeman
Notes and Questions	303	(3)
Note on Comparative Productivity Data	306	(1)
Enterprise Unionism: The Japanese Model	307	(11)
Enterprise Bargaining and Social Contract in Japan	308	(5)
Lloyd Ulman
Yoshifumi Nakata
Notes and Questions	313	(5)
Codetermination: The German Model	318	(13)
Germany: Codetermining the Future?	318	(5)
Otto Jacobi
Berndt Keller
Walther Muller-Jentsch
Codetermination: The Fourth Decade	323	(5)
Wolfgang Streeck
Notes and Questions	328	(3)
``Social Charter'': The European Community Model	331	(5)
Labor and the Global Economy: Four Approaches to Transnational Labor Regulation	331	(4)
Katherine Van Wezel Stone
Notes and Questions	335	(1)
Globalization and Domestic Labor Standards	336	(17)
Labor Markets and Integrating National Economies	337	(5)
Ronald G. Ehrenberg
Notes and Questions	342	(1)
The Fair Trade-Free Trade Debate: Trade, Labor, and the Environment	343	(8)
Robert Howse
Michael J. Trebilcock
Notes and Questions	351	(2)
Reforming Unions and Labor Law	353	(27)
Nonmajority Unionism	354	(6)
``The Road Not Taken: Some Thoughts on Nonmajority Employee Representation''	354	(4)
Matthew W. Finkin
Notes and Questions	358	(2)
Mandatory Employee Representation Committees	360	(12)
``An Economic Analysis of Works Councils''	360	(4)
Richard B. Freeman
Edward P. Lazear
``A Future Course for American Labor Law''	364	(5)
Paul C. Weiler
Notes and Questions	369	(3)
Creating a Market in Representational Services	372	(8)
Freedom of Contract and Labor Law Reform: Opening Up the Possibilities for Value-Added Unionism	372	(5)
Samuel Estreicher
Notes and Questions	377	(3)
Models for an Individualistic Future	380	(21)
Standard Handbooks for Employers	380	(3)
Reconstituting Workers' Rights	380	(2)
Richard Edwards
Notes and Questions	382	(1)
Arbitration of Employment Disputes	383	(5)
Note on Uniform Law Commissioners' Model Employment Termination Act	383	(1)
Arbitration of Employment Disputes Without Unions	384	(2)
Samuel Estreicher
Notes and Questions	386	(2)
Employee Ownership	388	(13)
In Despair, Starting Over: Imagining a Labor Law for Unorganized Workers	388	(4)
Michael H. Gottesman
In Defense of Employee Ownership	392	(6)
Alan Hyde
Notes and Questions	398	(3)
Appendix A Union Members in the United States, 1930-1979	401	(2)
Appendix B Union Membership Density Among U.S. Wage and Salary Workers, 1973-97	403	(2)
Appendix C Union Density Rates, 1900-1989, Eighteen and Twenty-Four Countries	405	(2)
Appendix D Alternative Unemployment Indicators, Ten Countries, 1983-93	407	(4)
Appendix E Indexes of Hourly Manufacturing Compensation Costs, 1975-94	411	(2)
Appendix F Business Sector Productivity Growth	413	(2)
Appendix G Indexes of Manufacturing Price Levels, Labor Productivity and Unit Labor Costs, Selected Years, 1970-93	415