James Peoples

Deregulation and the Prevalence of Black Truck Drivers

This study explores the influence of trucking industry deregulation on the prevalence of black truck drivers. The trucking industry consists of two major employment sectors. The previously regulated for-hire sector is composed of two subsectors, trucking companies with employees and individual owner-operators. These subsectors represent the core of the trucking industry. They traditionally provided over-the-road, long-distance carriage usually on a common-carrier basis. The other major employment sector, private carriers, was prohibited from providing freight services to the general public and from employing owner-operators. Their service was often local and limited, as with department stores that deliver goods to their own customers.

Trucking Deregulation and the Black/White Wage Gap

The only previous study of the effect of product market deregulation on the black/white wage gap found that this gap in the trucking industry declined after trucking deregulation in 1978. That study did not, however, estimate the separate effects of deregulation on union and nonunion members or on black and white drivers. This study does so through an analysis of individual worker information from the March and May CPS files for the years 1973 through 1988. The authors find that deregulation is associated with significantly declining black/white wage gaps among both union and nonunion drivers. This wage pattern is attributable to significant reductions in the real wages of white drivers; the real wages of black drivers did not change with deregulation.

Regulatory reform and labor markets

1. Introduction and Overview J. Peoples. 2. Regulation and Deregulation in Surface Freight, Airlines and Telecommunications C. Grimm, R.J. Windle. Commentary: B. Gupta. 3. Earnings and Employment in Trucking: Deregulating a Naturally Competitive Industry B.T. Hirsch, D.A Macpherson. Commentary: M. Alexis. 4. Railroad Deregulation and Union Labor Earnings W.K. Talley, A.V. Schwarz-Miller. Commentary: M. Belzer. 5. Deregulation and Labor Earnings in the Airline Industry D. Card. Commentary: L. Saunders. 6. Labor Negotiations with Regional Monopolies: The Telecommunication Industry W. Hendricks. Commentary: D. Pal. 7. Regulated Industries and Measures of Earnings Discrimination J.S. Heywood. Commentary: K.G. Husbands. 8. Concluding Observations J. Peoples. Author Index. Subject Index.

Monopolistic Market Structure, Unionization, and Racial Wage Differentials

Models of wage determination suggest a positive association between monopoly power and the ability of employers to discriminate. Past research on this issue has confused the influence of race, unionization, and market structure. This study measures racial wage differentials for four market structure-union status groups: union members employed in low- and high-concentration industries and nonmembers employed in low- and high-concentration industries. There is modest, but persistent evidence of larger racial wage differentials in high-concentration industries for nonunion workers. Market structure does not, however, influence racial wage differentials for union members. Copyright 1994 by MIT Press.

9. Owner-Operator Truck Driver Earnings And Employment: Port Cities And Deregulation

This chapter tests the hypothesis that ocean transportation deregulation presents owner-operators with greater job opportunities and the opportunity to increase earnings at port cities. The pre- and post-deregulation earnings estimates of owner-operator drivers in the fifty busiest port-cities are compared to estimates for other owner-operators. Earnings findings indicate a statistically significant increase in the relative earnings for port-city owner-operators following deregulation. Employment findings reveal that compared to the pre-deregulation period, a greater share of owner-operator drivers are employed at port cities in the shipping post-deregulation period.

Corporate mergers and union wage premiums

Corporate mergers possibly enhance the labor negotiation advantage of employers. This study investigates the association between wage levels and merger activity to test the employer bargaining strength hypothesis. The results indicate significantly lower union wages as a consequence of merging. Merger activity, however, does not influence wage levels of non-union workers. These findings are supportive of the employer bargaining strength hypothesis.

Privatization of Refuse Removal and Labor Costs

We examine the labor-cost savings associated with privatization by comparing earnings and employment trends of public and private sector refuse workers. Findings suggest that high union earnings for workers in the public sector are a source of labor-cost savings in the refuse industry. Evidence on job changers does not indicate that earnings for this group of workers are a compensating differential. Metropolitan area employment findings suggest that municipalities are less likely to use union refuse workers in the public sector when a relatively small percentage of area residents belong to a union.

Deregulation and the Competitive Fringe: Owner-Operators in the Trucking Industry

This paper assesses the direct and indirect effects of regulatory reform in the trucking industry on the employment of owner-operators. We utilize a probit estimation form derived from driver utility functions to estimate the change in the probability that a truck driver is an owner-operator following deregulation.We find that a representative driver with mean characteristics is 155.6 percent more likely to choose employment as an owner-operator in the deregulated environment. Thirty-six percentage points of this increase is due to the indirect effects of deregulation, which operate primarily through changes in wage differentials and unionization. The direct effect of deregulation accounts for a 120% increase in the probability of a driver choosing employment as an owner-operator.

Foreign Direct Investment And Domestic Wages In The Usa

High wages generally prevail in industries with substantial foreign direct investment (FDI) in developed countries. This study examines whether such wages are economically justified by revealing the effect of worker and industry characteristics on the FDI-domestic wage relationship. Findings show that while observed worker characteristics that command high wages help explain high FDI wages, the propensity for foreign owners to invest in capital-intensive industries contributes appreciably to the high wage paid to workers in industries with high levels of FDI. Copyright

The differential impact of unemployment insurance on unemployment duration by income level

While there is a vast literature on the effect of unemployment insurance on unemployment duration, in almost all of these studies the replacement ratio is the key explanatory variable. Does not contest the almost universal findings that the higher the ratio of unemployment income to that of previous earnings, the longer is unemployment duration, but finds that when pre‐unemployment income itself is considered, duration is positively related to that income. Supports the positive view of the merits of unemployment insurance. While past studies emphasize the leisure aspect, unemployment insurance incorporates the ability to improve search through the use of unemployment insurance funds. This use of funds is particularly applicable to high income recipients.