TY - BOOK T1 - Gender Inequality in the Labour Market in the UK Y1 - 2014 A1 - Razzu, Giovanni KW - discrimination KW - gender KW - gender bias KW - inequality KW - women AB -

This book addresses one of the most topical and pressing areas of inequality experienced by women in the UK: inequality in the labour market. Despite the changed and changing position of women in society there remain substantial gender differences in the labour market.

PB - Oxford University Press CY - Northamptonshire, UK L2 - eng ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Globalization and the Pursuit of Decent Work: Can the ILO Deliver? Y1 - 2014 A1 - Hutchison, Harry G. KW - decent work KW - globalization KW - ILO KW - inequality KW - International Labor Organization KW - international labor standards KW - labor law KW - living wage KW - minimum wage KW - non-governmental organizations KW - OECD KW - Russia KW - South Africa AB -

Whether globalization is a relatively recent development or not, it appears that as nations and nongovernmental organizations focus on international competitiveness and the correlative commitment to liberalization and privatization, and the acceptance of interdependencies and integrations among the world’s major economies, these moves have consequences. Taken together with (1) the pursuit of trade liberalization by the West (the quest for open markets for Western products and capital markets), (2) increased international inequalities with respect to capital stock and flows favoring the richest countries, (3) the simultaneous rise in trade protection that reduces or constrains access by developing countries to Western markets, and (4) the incipient and growing emphasis on technology and innovation by many countries and firms including the emergence of information and communication technologies (ICT) including the world wide web and the internet, the prospect of inequality in relationships and income advances. On the other hand, globalization has been accompanied by the instantiation of new institutions coupled with renewed attention being given to existing intergovernmental institutions such as the International Labor Organization that are designed to deal with problems that are either initiated or exacerbated by globalization. Given the difficult economic currents percolating throughout the world, many analysts suggest that the “real question is how labor law can respond to the challenges presented by globalization. In order to promote an efficacious labor law...[it is argued that a] new global goal should be added to the labor law agenda – decent work with a living wage.” The ILO program is advanced around the world through its promotion of “decent work,” an apparently ambiguous slogan calculated to level income inequalities within and between nations. It is the objective of this paper to briefly explore the promise, possibilities and failures of the ILO in an era that apparently features an increasing acceptance by elite opinion formers, banks and financial institutions, and Western world leaders of the presumed value and presumed legitimacy of increased trade integration.

PB - George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper No. 14-51 CY - Arlington, VA L2 - eng UR - http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2510955 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Income Inequality in the People's Republic of China: Trends, Determinants, and Proposed Remedies JF - Journal of Economic Surveys Y1 - 2014 A1 - Wang, Chen A1 - Wan, Guanghua A1 - Yang, Dan KW - China KW - income distribution KW - inequality AB -

The issue of income inequality in the People's Republic of China (PRC) has attracted world-wide attention, leading to a sizable literature. This paper attempts to provide a nonexhaustive literature review of the PRC's inequality trends and determinants, and suggested government interventions. It discusses profiles of income inequality along three dimensions: interhousehold disparity, regional divides, and urban–rural gaps. This is followed by an exploration of the driving forces behind rising inequality, including the notorious hukou system, policy biases, location or geographic factors, globalization, and education. Finally, the paper summarizes and proposes government interventions for containing or reducing income inequality in the PRC. Important areas for future research are also suggested in the final section of the paper.

VL - 28 L2 - eng CP - 4 ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Lessons for Social Change in the Global Economy: Voices from the Field Y1 - 2014 A1 - Garwood, Shae A1 - Sky Croeser A1 - Christalla Yakinthou KW - activists KW - globalization KW - inequality KW - labor activism KW - labor organizers KW - social activism KW - social change AB -

In the face of globalization’s massive social and economic transformations and the resulting persistent inequality, activists, labor organizers, and advocacy NGOs are seeking and creating change beyond the confines of formal state politics and across national borders. Given the breadth of local issues activists face, the ways they define the problem and seek redress vary widely. This book provides a unique perspective on these efforts, gathering into one volume concrete examples of the implementation of different strategies for social change that highlight the challenges involved. This provides useful lessons for those involved in social change, as well as for those studying it. Contributors to the volume are scholars and practitioners around the world, and they draw on strong connections with people working in the field to improve working conditions and environmental standards of global production systems. This allows readers to develop a more comprehensive and grounded understanding of strategies for social change.This book maintains a strong balance between breadth and specificity. It provides an overview of the themes of social change, which contextualizes and draws common threads from the chapters grounded in specific geographic locations and political spaces of change. The chapters analyze environmental and social problems and the varying degrees of success activists have had in regulating industries, containing environmental hazards, and/or harnessing aspects of an industry for positive social and economic change. Contributors draw upon different ways of creating change, which include corporate social responsibility schemes, fair trade regimes, and community radio. By providing insight into the potential and limitations of actions taken at different levels, the book encourages a critical perspective on efforts for social change, grounded in an understanding of how conditions around the world can affect these activities.

PB - Rowman & Littlefield CY - Lanham, MD L2 - eng ER - TY - BOOK T1 - What Does the Minimum Wage Do? Y1 - 2014 A1 - Belman, Dale A1 - Paul J. Wolfson KW - employment KW - gender KW - inequality KW - low-wage workers KW - minimum wage KW - poverty KW - wages AB -

Belman and Wolfson have compiled the most comprehensive, analytical, and unbiased assessment of the effects of minimum wage increases that has ever been produced. Based on a rigorous meta-analysis of more than 200 scholarly publications published since 1991 (most after 2000) that address the various impacts of raising the minimum wage, the authors observe several outcomes influenced by increases in the minimum wage, how long it takes those outcomes to respond, the magnitude of effects, why increases in the minimum wage have the results they do, and the workers most likely to be impacted. The breadth and depth of their investigation clarifies the issues surrounding employment, wages, poverty and inequality, and effect by gender.

PB - W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research CY - Kalamazoo, MI L2 - eng ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Why is Income Inequality Increasing in the Developed World? JF - Review of Income and Wealth Y1 - 2014 A1 - Max Roser A1 - Jesus Crespo Cuaresma KW - FDI KW - globalization KW - income inequality KW - inequality KW - international trade AB -

We address empirically the factors affecting the dynamics of income inequality among industrialized economies. Using a panel for 32 developed countries spanning the last four decades, our results indicate that the predictions of the Stolper–Samuelson theorem concerning the effects of international trade on income inequality find support in the data if we concentrate on imports from developing countries as a trade measure, as theory would imply. We find that democratization, the interaction of technology and education, and changes in the relative power of labor unions affect inequality dynamics robustly.

VL - Article first published online: 14 NOV 2014 L2 - eng UR - http://www.emod.ox.ac.uk/sites/emod.ox.ac.uk/files/CrespoCuaresmaRoser_Submitted.pdf ER - TY - BOOK T1 - 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It Y1 - 2012 A1 - Collins, Chuck KW - disparities in wealth KW - economic policies KW - inequality KW - inequality gap KW - social values KW - Wall Street AB -

For over thirty years, we've lived through a radical redistribution of wealth—upward, to a tiny fraction of the population. It's as though we're undertaking a bizarre social experiment to see how much inequality a democratic society can tolerate. As a result "We are the 99%," the rallying cry of the Occupy movement, has spread far beyond its ranks. But who are the 99 percent? Who are the 1 percent? How extensive and systematic is inequality throughout society? What are its true causes and consequences? How is inequality changing our world? And what can be done about it? For many years, Chuck Collins has been a leading voice and activist on these questions. In this book he marshals wide-ranging data from a variety of sources to paint a graphic picture of how disparities in wealth and power play out in America and the world. For the first time, this book reveals the concrete meaning of "the 99% and the 1%," looking not just at individual households but at the business world, the media, and the earth as a whole. Collins identifies the shifts in social values, political power, and economic policy that have led to our current era of extreme inequality—particularly the way Wall Street has managed to rig the rules of the game in favor of the 1 percent—and surveys the havoc inequality has wreaked on virtually every aspect of society. But there is hope. Not only does he offer common-sense proposals for closing the inequality gap, but Collins provides a guide to many of the groups—including some made up of millionaires—that are working to bring about a society that works for everybody: for the 100 percent. This is a struggle that can be won. After all, the odd are 99 to 1 in our favor.(publisher's statement)

PB - Berrett-Koehler Publishers CY - San Francisco L2 - eng ER -