The Origins of Structure in the American Industrial Labor Market

今天的工业劳动力市场的特点是 的“结构。“长期劳动合同、集体谈判 安排，资历规则，内部晋升阶梯， 养老金计划和其他形式的员工归属被认为是 限制工资的弹性，提高自然工资率， 失业和加剧宏观经济波动。 相同的 结构已经牵连到创造一个“双重劳动” 市场”，有些人认为这对一个 下层工人。 受有趣的新理论的启发， 对宏观经济的微观经济基础的见解 理论上，大量的注意力最近集中在 劳动力市场这些方面的起源和含义 结构 本项目研究的是 现代美国劳动力市场。 其重点将是 1880年至1914年的关键时期。 对此的详细研究 这一时期的经验与最近的经验形成了深刻的对比 这将进一步加深我们对宏观经济的理解， 当时和现在的现象。 数据收集自150多项独立调查 1874年至1920年间，29个州的劳工局 统计 这些机构公布了对工人阶级的调查 包含工资、工作时数、 失业和疾病，家庭支出，以及一长串的 其他经济和社会特点。 他们还出版了 公司调查报告和其他关于 劳动力市场的条件。 利用这些数据， 十九世纪和二十世纪初，该项目将审查 劳动力投入的变化、工资水平的高低等问题， 失业的灵活性、异质性和持续时间; 年龄收入概况的模式;工作任期的变化; 行业间工资差异的存在和重要性; 劳动生产率和短期劳动报酬递增; 以及自主创业的机会。

Today's industrial labor market is characterized by a good deal of "structure." Long-term labor contracts, collective bargaining arrangements, seniority rules, internal promotion ladders, pension plans, and other forms of employee vesting are thought to limit the flexibility of wages, raise the natural rate of unemployment and exacerbate macroeconomic fluctuations. The same structures have been implicated in the creation of a "dual labor market" that some feel has worked to the disadvantage of an underclass of workers. Spurred by intriguing new theoretical insights on the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic theory, a great deal of attention has recently been focused on the origins and implications of these aspects of labor market structure. This project undertakes research on the origins of the modern American labor market. Its focus will be on the critical period between 1880 and 1914. A detailed study of this period will provide an insightful contrast with recent experience and would sharpen further our understanding of macroeconomic phenomena both then and now. Data are collected from over 150 separate investigations undertaken between 1874 and 1920 by 29 state Bureaus of Labor Statistics. These bureaus published surveys of working-class families containing data on wages, hours of work, time lost to unemployment and illness, family expenditures, and a long list of other economic and social characteristics. They also published surveys of firms and other Special Reports dealing with conditions in the labor markets. Using these data from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the project will examine such issues as changes in labor input, the degree of wage flexibility, the heterogeneity and duration of unemployment; the pattern of age-earning profiles; changes in job tenure; the presence and importance of inter-industry wage differentials; labor productivity and short-term increasing returns to labor; and the opportunities for self-employment.