Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Politics of Inequality: Income Distribution and Corporate Restructuring in the Airline Industry, 1968-2005

PI: Donald tomaskovich - deveyco -PI: Dustin avant - holt博士论文研究：不平等的政治：收入分配和航空业的公司重组，1968-20050827297本研究项目考察了航空业的重组，以提供洞察收入不平等的上升。此次审查将集中在根本性的经济结构调整、放松对航空业的管制等方面。通过1978年的《航空放松管制法》，航空业在立法上从一个高度管制的行业转变为一个由公开和不受管制的竞争引导的行业。这项研究以三个相互关联的问题为指导。首先，导致航空业放松管制的因果机制是什么？第二，企业和行业中的其他参与者如何重建管制解除后航空业的市场制度和社会关系？最后，放松管制后的航空业重组是如何进行的？制度和社会关系影响航空公司之间和内部利润和收入不平等的轨迹？为了回答这些问题，调查人员将把航空业的历史分析与1968年至2005年的公司收入分配数据结合起来。历史分析侧重于航空业及其周围的核心行动者的动员和政治争论，并结合1968年至2005年公司层面工资和利润数据的统计分析。该项目的目标是解释经济重组是如何发生的，以及它如何影响收入不平等的趋势。根据经验，该项目将考察航空业作为美国经济向自由市场政策和组织转变的一个例子。从理论上讲，该项目将关注经济组织的近期变化，以了解收入不平等的加剧。由于目前的经济政策是基于这样一种假设：不受监管的市场会带来经济繁荣，因此从广义上评估这一说法至关重要。人们往往只根据宏观经济增长来评估经济政策，然而，要理解自由市场经济政策的全面影响，增长利益的分配至关重要。通过关注最近经济政策向不受监管的市场转变的一个典型案例，这项研究将能够评估这种经济重组对经济不平等的影响，这对于理解个人当前的经济状况和总体生活机会至关重要。

PI: Donald Tomaskovic-DeveyCo-PI: Dustin Avent-HoltDoctoral Dissertation Research: The Politics of Inequality: Income Distribution and Corporate Restructuring in the Airline Industry, 1968-20050827297This research project examines the restructuring of the airline industry to provide insight into the rise of income inequality. The examination will focus on a case of fundamental economic reorganization, the deregulation of the airline industry. Through the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act the airline industry was legislatively transformed from a highly regulated industry to one guided by open and unregulated competition. The research is guided by three interrelated questions. First, what were the causal mechanisms that led to the deregulation of the airline industry? Second, how did firms and other actors in the industry reconstruct the market institutions and social relations of the post-deregulation airline industry? Finally, how did the post-deregulation reorganization of the airline industry?s institutions and social relations affect the trajectory of profit and income inequality between and within airline firms? To answer these questions, the investigators will combine an historical analysis of the airline industry with firm-level income distribution data from 1968 to 2005. The historical analysis focuses on the mobilization and political arguments of central actors in and around the airline industry, coupled with a statistical analysis of firm-level wage and profit data from 1968 to 2005. The goal of the project is to explain how economic reorganization occurs and how it influences income inequality trends. Empirically, the project will examine the airline industry as an example of economic changes in the U.S. toward free-market policies and organization. Theoretically, the project will focus on recent changes in the organization of the economy to understand the growth in income inequality. As economic policy is now guided by the assumption that unregulated markets generate economic prosperity it is crucial to assess this claim broadly. Economic policy is often only evaluated in terms of macro-economic growth, yet the distribution of the benefits of growth is crucial to understand the full impact of free-market economic policy. By focusing on a prototypical case of the recent shift in economic policy towards unregulated markets this research will be able to assess the impacts of such economic reorganization on economic inequality, crucial to understanding individuals' current economic situation and overall life chances.