Maury Gittleman

Flexible workplace practices: Evidence from a nationally representative survey

The authors estimate the extent to which establishments have adopted six alternative work organization practices. Findings from the 1993 Survey of Employer Provided Training show that some 42% of all establishments used at least one of these practices, and among establishments with 50 or more employees the figure was nearly 70%. Establishment characteristics that were positively related to the use of the practices were the recent introduction of new technology; large size; manufacturing as the primary activity; incentive-based compensation; the provision of generous benefits; and the use of extensive training. The choice of practices varied greatly among establishments, with no apparent “best practice.”

Racial Differences in Patterns of Wealth Accumulation

Making use of PSID data for 1984, 1989, and 1994, we examine race differences in patterns of asset accumulation. Our results indicate, as expected, that inheritances raise the rate of wealth accumulation of whites relative to that of African Americans. But, while whites devote a greater share of their income to saving, racial differences in saving rates are not significant, once we control for income. Though our results may be period-specific, we also do not find evidence that the rate of return to capital is greater for whites than for African Americans. Simulations suggest that African Americans would have gained significant ground relative to whites during the period if they had inherited similar amounts, saved at the same rate, had comparable income levels and, more speculatively, had portfolios closer in composition to those of whites.

Correlates of Training: An Analysis Using Both Employer and Employee Characteristics.

Although a number of surveys now measure employee training, serious gaps remain in our knowledge of such fundamental matters as how much training takes place, who provides it, and who gets it. The authors explore these questions using the 1995 Survey of Employer-Provided Training, which, because it collected data from employers as well as employees, enables a more complete analysis of the correlates of training than has been possible before. While there are some differences across the measures of training incidence and intensity, the authors find that establishments that provided generous benefits to their employees and used innovative workplace practices also provided more training.

CHANGES IN THE STRUCTURE AND QUALITY OF JOBS IN THE UNITED STATES: EFFECTS BY RACE AND GENDER, 1973-1990

Using 17 measures of job quality from the 1980 Census, the Current Population Survey, and the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, the authors perform a cluster analysis that groups 621 jobs covering 94% of the work force into six job categories (termed “contours”), a job classification closely resembling those suggested by labor market segmentation theory. The distribution of employment over the period 1973–90 shifted sharply away from the two middle-quality contours toward the two highest-quality contours. The two lowest-quality contours show no decline in employment share in the 1980s. The declining relative position of employed black and Hispanic men stems from both a worsening job mix relative to white men and a sharp drop in the quality of low-skill jobs. Female workers experienced both a greater shift away from jobs in the lower-quality contours and higher real earnings growth within each job contour than male workers.

Have family income mobility patterns changed

We examine the mobility of individuals in the United States based on equivalent family income-that is, total income of all family members adjusted for family size according to the equivalence scale implicit in the U.S. poverty line. Our analysis, which tracks movements across quintiles, centers on four questions: How much movement is there across the family income distribution? How has this mobility changed over time? To what extent are the movements attributable to factors related to changes in family composition versus events in the labor markets? In light of major socioeconomic changes occurring in the quarter-century under study, have the determinants of mobility changed over time? Our findings indicate that mobility rates in the 1980s differed little from those in the 1970s. However, individuals in families headed by a young person or a person without a college education were less likely to experience upward mobility in the 1980s than in the 1970s.

Does Money Matter?: A Comparison of the Effect of Income on Child Development in the United States and Great Britain

In this paper, we examine the effect of income on child development in the United States and the United Kingdom, as measured by scores on cognitive, behavioral, and social assessments. In line with previous results for the United States, we find that for both countries income generally has an effect on child development that is positive and significant, but whose size is small relative to other family background variables.

Inheritances and the Distribution of Wealth or Whatever Happened to the Great Inheritance Boom

Using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), we found that on average over the period from 1989 to 2007, about one fifth of American households at a given point of time reported a wealth transfer and these accounted for quite a sizeable figure, about a quarter of their net worth. Over the lifetime, about 30 percent of households could expect to receive a wealth transfer and these would account for close to 40 % of their net worth near time of death. However, there is little evidence of an inheritance “boom.” In fact, from 1989 to 2007, the share of households reporting a wealth transfer fell by 2.5 percentage points, a time trend statistically significant at the one percent level. The average value of inheritances received among all households did increase but at a slow pace, by 10 %; the time trend is not statistically significant. Wealth transfers as a proportion of current net worth fell sharply over this period, from 29 to 19 %, though the time trend once again is not statistically significant. We also found that inheritances and other wealth transfers tend to be equalizing in terms of the distribution of household wealth, though a number of caveats apply to this result.

Maternal Employment and Adolescent Risky Behavior

This paper examines the impact of maternal employment during a childs first 3 years and during adolescence on his or her decisions to engage in a range of risky behaviors: smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, using marijuana and other drugs, engaging in sex and committing crimes. Using data from the NLSY79 and its young adult supplement, we do not find strong evidence that mothers employment--whether early in the childs life or during adolescence--affects the likelihood of participation in risky behaviors. We note as a caveat, however, that insufficient statistical precision makes it difficult, at times, to distinguish some potentially important effects from effects that are essentially equal to zero.

Declining Caseloads: What Do the Dynamics of Welfare Participation Reveal?

Recent research has attempted to explain the sharp decline in welfare caseloads that began in the mid-1990s, well before the implementation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), by focusing on patterns in aggregate caseloads at the state level. Although this approach has aided our understanding of caseload trends, several important issues remain unresolved. In this article I assess these patterns from a different perspective and, instead, examine the flows into and out of welfare that underlie the net changes in the caseloads. I find that a decline in the rate of initial entry into welfare, a shortening of the length of welfare spells, and a reduction in the likelihood of welfare recidivism all contributed to the marked decline in aggregate caseloads observed before PRWORA’s enactment. I do not find evidence providing firm support for the view that welfare-reform waivers played an important role in the shifts observed for the three transition rates that determine movements in welfare caseloads. While the presence of such waivers is found to be associated with a shortening of welfare spells in the 1990s, further examination raises doubts about a causal interpretation of this finding.

Racial Wealth Disparities: Is the Gap Closing?

A vast literature in economics has examined the economic progress of African Americans during this century. Most of these studies have focused on income--or on even narrower measures of economic well-being, such as earnings--to assess the extent to which any gains made relative to other racial groups can be attributed to such factors as declining racial discrimination, affirmative action policies, changes in industrial composition, or a narrowing gap between the educational levels of African Americans and the rest of the population. However, studies of earnings and income, while important for assessing the extent to which labor market discrimination exists and the ability of African Americans to move closer to whites in terms of acquiring the skills and connections that are currently rewarded by the markets, provide an incomplete picture. This paper therefore explores how African Americans have fared in terms of wealth, a less well-known factor and an important measure of economic well-being.