Topic: Labor

Workers stretching at their desk Research Brief / Workplace

Do Corporate Wellness Programs Boost Worker Productivity?

Industrial laundry gains 4% output; better health and better feelings toward employer could account for increase

Driver looking at Uber app on his smartphone Research Brief / Uber Surge Pricing

How Uber Could Avoid That Notorious $362.57 Fare

A mathematical model analyzes incentives underlying surge-pricing schemes

Sepia photo of four farmers Research Brief / Gender Gap

A History of Plough-Based Farming Leads to Fewer Girls

Modern-day gender ratios are linked to countries’ agricultural roots

A graph illustration showing the equilibrium of labor supply and labor demand Primer / Minimum Wage

Through the Minimum Wage Looking Glass: Economic Consensus Unrealized

Researchers struggle with faulty study designs, flyspecking each other’s work, re-arguing decades of debate about jobs and income

Forklift in a warehouse Research Brief / Manufacturing

When Manufacturers Commence Exporting, They Become More Efficient

Looking at costs, in a sample of 5,000 plants in Chile, remarkable productivity gains occur

Illustration of Caribbean Research Brief / Labor

An Early Episode of How Corporate Profits Shaped Labor Markets

Caribbean plantation owners, faced with slavery’s end, enacted legal barriers to employment elsewhere

Workers leaving a building Research Brief / Labor

Which Policies Best Counter Mass Layoffs? Maybe None

A study of military base closures finds that labor-friendly policies had little effect on job growth after the layoffs

Workers in a garment factory Research Brief / Workplace

Motivating Workers with a Sacred Symbol: Promise and Peril

A Chinese garment factory tidied up after golden coins were displayed

People waiting for job interview Research Brief / Hiring/Firing

Google Says to Hire the Best, but Suppose You Can’t?

Top companies hog the best talent, adding to their competitive advantage

Two male workers walking in storage room Feature / Unemployment

Government Coverage of Payrolls Could Cost Less than Jobless Benefits

Analysis also suggests a more rapid economic recovery by keeping workers and employers allied

Male wearing a suit facing away from the camera Feature / Employment

Entering the Job Market in Recession: The Prognosis Worsens

New research suggests increased risk of illness and death in middle age, on top of longer-lasting income penalty

Industrial looms Research Brief / Productivity

Amid Technology Boom, Where Are Productivity Gains?

19th-century French cotton mills suggest halting, uneven progress

Employee checks on industrial equipment in a plant Feature / Management

A Model Could Help Food Processors Operate More Efficiently

Managing production with the declining potency of a catalyst

Khasi Women holding vegetables and smiling Research Brief / Gender

Age-Old Cultural Norms Dictate Gender Roles Even Today

Looking beyond traditional explanations

Chinese women working at a garment factory Research Brief / Productivity

Giving Workers a Say Boosts Productivity

Output at a Chinese garment factory rose 10%

Blurred image of people walking through a building Research Brief / Economics

Could Tech Giants Be Making Our Economy Less Innovative?

With a business model built on fewer employees, their dominance saps dynamism.