Edwin Melendez

Hispanics in the Labor Force

Twenty years ago, a researcher studying Hispanics in the United States would have found a somewhat limited list of titles. How dramatically different the situation is today. The study of Hispanic history and social development in the United States has progressed to the point where, in the early 1990s, there is now an entire literature dedicated to Hispanic studies, which certainly reflects the greater importance and visibility given to Hispanics as an ethnic group. Hispanic studies encompasses a diversity of research issues and theoretical approaches that compete in order to understand and interpret the Hispanic reality.

The Impact of Institutional Collaborations on the Earnings of Adult Workforce Education Completers

This article reports findings from a mixed-methods study of the impact of collaborations between adult education organizations and nonprofit or business partners on the earnings of program participants. The project uses survey data collected from a network of state-sponsored educational institutions and unemployment insurance data from program participants. Findings from the study emphasize that collaboration between adult workforce institutions and business, government, or nonprofit partners increases the earnings of adult training participants. The effects differ for men and women. These results were estimated using regression analysis, which related changes in quarterly earnings to two aspects of institutional collaboration: the intensity of collaboration and employer involvement.

Year 15 and Preservation of Tax-Credit Housing for Low-Income Households: An Assessment of Risk

This paper examines the risk associated with the expiration of the initial 15-year period protecting affordability for housing units developed using the federal Low-Income Housing Tax-Credit (LIHTC). The paper finds that the primary determinants of risk for properties with credit allocated between 1987 and 1989 are reduced by three factors: whether not-for-profit sponsors are part of the ownership structure of the projects, the existence of additional affordability restrictions, and the rehabilitation costs associated with the conversion to market rental. The proportion of properties in need of rehabilitation increased substantially in the post-1989 period, representing a different type of risk for tax-credit projects. It is concluded that state agencies have the opportunity to promote and support preservation measures by adding additional affordability restrictions as part of any refinancing related to capital improvements, by supporting non-profit sponsorship of projects, and by providing funding for rehabilitation.

Community College Participation in Welfare Programs: Do State Policies Matter?.

This article examines how, to what extent, and why community colleges have responded to welfare-to-work initiatives. Data from a national survey shows that 80% of community colleges have implemented programs targeting welfare recipients that include short-term training linked to degree programs, on-the-job internships with employers, and job readiness and soft skill courses. The number of hours that Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients are required to work per week and the degree that states allow TANF recipients to substitute education for other work activities are important policies affecting community college participation in welfare-to-work programs.

Puerto Rican migration and occupational selectivity, 1982-1981

This study examines whether or not the likelihood of Puerto Rican workers choosing to migrate to the United States depends on their occupations or skills. The study determined that the occupational composition among thosemigrating from the island to the United States generally corresponds to the occupational distribution in Puerto Rico. The exception is that, after controlling for labor market conditions in Puerto Rico and in the United States and for other characteristics of the migrants, farm workers, laborers, and craft and kindred workers are overrepresented in the flow of migrants. The two most important factors contributing to the occupational distribution of migrants are whether or not they already have job offers in the United States and whether they are currently employed in Puerto Rico. Among those returning to Puerto Rico, the study found no positive or negative occupational selectivity.

Reassessing the role of housing in community‐based urban development

Abstract In this article, we use a random sample of urban community development corporations (CDCs) to determine whether distinct types exist and, if so, to estimate their prevalence in the industry. The typical urban CDC has a diversified portfolio of economic and social development activities, including community organizing, and is likely to have a housing development program, although not necessarily a large one because relatively few are high producers. Large‐scale housing producers, defined in the study as having produced at least 500 units during the previous 10 years, comprise 18 percent of CDCs. A large organizational capacity, an affiliation with national intermediaries, the training of staff and the adoption of computers, the length of executive directors’ tenure, and the share of funding devoted to housing programs are the most important factors increasing the odds that a CDC will belong to the group of high producers.

Accumulation and Crisis in a Small and Open Economy: The Postwar Social Structure of Accumulation in Puerto Rico

This paper presents a model of capital accumulation in a small and open economy, a model consisting of an investment equation and a profit equation. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the erosion of the postwar social structure of accumulation, as reflected in declining profit rates, led to the current economic crisis. Econometric estimation of the model confirms the critical importance of lower profit-rate differentials in inducing a lower reinvestment of foreign capital, and it shows how the deterioration of the postwar social structure of accumulation has caused the decline of long-term profitability in Puerto Rico.

Labor Market Structure and Wage Differences in New York City

The question of the differences between the average wages received by Hispanic workers and average wages received by their white counterparts has received extensive attention during the last decade.1 Previous studies have found that differences in human capital, immigrants’ ability to adapt to new labor markets, and discrimination are important factors in explaining low wages for Hispanics. In contrast to findings regarding black men’s earnings, differences in measurable characteristics, particularly in education, explain the largest proportion of wage differences for Hispanics. On this account, a lower proportion of the wage gap is attributable to discrimination. Such findings, however, are based on the assumption of a competitive labor market in which there are no barriers to worker mobility and in which market forces therefore tend to eliminate wage or employment differences as Hispanic workers adapt to their new working environment. To the extent that labor markets are noncompetitive and workers’ attributes contribute to the support of industrial dualism and segmentation, however, there could be a premium attached to labor-market location, that is, to the sector or segment of the labor market in which a particular worker is employed. Despite the growing research measuring the effects of human capital and immigrant background, very few studies have measured the relative effect of labor-market location on earnings for Hispanics.