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Roundtable on "Improving Employment and Earnings in Twenty-First Century Labor Markets"

Paper Session

Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Hanover C
Hosted By: Labor and Employment Relations Association
  • Chair: Erica Groshen, Cornell University

Production Jobs in the World of Robots

Richard B. Freeman
,
Harvard University
George Borjas
,
Harvard University

Abstract

How many production workers will robots displace? This paper will estimate robot stocks and compare growth of robots with immigrants and stocks of labor via imports. The answer to the robot impact depends critically on how many workers a robot can replace. If a robot can do away with 10 workers, the 1.7 million NEW robots that are expected to be deployed worldwide in next 2-3 years would be comparable to 17 million workers. Of course if the robots complement rather than substitute for people, then the higher capital/labor ratio benefits human workers. But if they are really labor in a robot form, then large numbers of workers may be displaced.

Making Ends Meet: The Role of Informal Work in Supplementing Americans’ Income

Susan N. Houseman
,
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Katharine G. Abraham
,
University of Maryland

Abstract

We present new evidence on the role of informal work as a source of income for U.S. households. Data from the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking imply that over the course of a month about a quarter of adults engage in some informal work activity outside of a main job. About two-thirds of those doing informal work say it is to earn money and about one-third say that informal work is an important source of household income. Informal work plays a particularly important role in the household finances of minorities, the less educated, those who report financial hardship, those who work part-time involuntarily, independent contractors, and the unemployed. Although aggregate earnings from informal work may be modest, informal work appears to be important in helping many households make ends meet. It cannot, however, compensate for the lack of benefits commonly associated with part-time and contractor work.

Race in the Labor Market: The Role of Equal Employment Opportunity and Other Policies

William M. Rodgers III
,
Rutgers University

Abstract

This paper first reviews recent trends and cross section analysis on racial inequality. It then synthesizes the evidence on the gap's causes and speculates as to how these factors will shape labor markets in the coming years and decades. The paper concludes with a variety of policy recommendations.

The Real Future of Work and Its Policy Needs: A Fissured Workplace Perspective

David Weil
,
Brandeis University

Abstract

The fissured workplace hypothesis argues that the growth of subcontracting, independent contracting, the use of franchising, and other forms of shifting work out from lead business entities in specific industries and across the economy represents a more fundamental change in business organization and strategy. Firms, seeking to focus on core competency in response to capital market pressures, seek at the same time to shift work to other businesses. However, given the importance of core competency to profitability, they carefully control the outcomes of those entities through a variety of forms of business organization, increasingly enabled by technology (Weil 2014). Because the fissured workplace upends the way that wages are set, less of the value created by businesses is shared with the workforce in the form of higher wages and benefits while more of social risk is shifted towards them. As a result, I will argue that traditional responses to earnings inequality such as education and training as well as proposals like universal basic income provide an incomplete answer to these changes. The paper will explore new approaches to policies in light of these changes.
Discussant(s)
Erica Groshen
,
Cornell University
Harry Holzer
,
Georgetown University
JEL Classifications
  • J0 - General