Suchergebnisse

Abstract:Productivity growth in a sector or economy is the economic basis for improvements in workers' wages. Recent growth of domestic and foreign outsourcing in developed economies greatly complicates the measurement and interpretation of this key economic indicator and may result in inflated and misleading increases in productivity statistics. In the context of United States manufacturing, this article points to several pieces of evidence that suggest these effects of outsourcing and offshoring on productivity measures are significant. These factors may help explain why wage growth for most United States workers has been relatively low in spite of high measured productivity growth.

Resumen.El aumento de la productividad en un sector o una economía es la base económica de los aumentos salariales. El auge de la subcontratación nacional e internacional que acaece en los países desarrollados siembra de obstáculos la medición e interpretación de este indicador económico esencial. Es probable que ello esté dando unas estadísticas engañosas que exageran la productividad de la industria estadounidense. La autora expone varios indicios de que la subcontratación está distorsionando de manera significativa las mediciones de la productividad. Este factor tal vez sea una de las causas de que el índice de productividad arroje subidas muy pronunciadas que no se han traducido en aumentos salariales equivalentes para la mayoría de los trabajadores de los Estados Unidos.

Résumé.Les gains de productivité sont à la source des augmentations de salaires dans un secteur d'activité ou dans l'ensemble d'une économie. Dans les pays développés, la multiplication des externalisations, intérieures ou à l'étranger, complique gravement le calcul et l'interprétation de cet indicateur essentiel, en induisant une surestimation trompeuse des gains de productivité. S'agissant de l'industrie aux Etats‐Unis, l'auteur met en évidence plusieurs éléments indiquant que les effets de l'externalisation et des délocalisations sur la mesure de la productivité seraient significatifs. Ce qui expliquerait la modeste hausse des salaires aux Etats‐Unis malgré une forte augmentation de la productivité, telle qu'elle est mesurée.

The high incidence of temporary agency employment among participants in government employment programs has catalyzed debate about whether these jobs help the poor transition into stable employment and out of poverty. We provide direct evidence on this question through analysis of a Michigan welfare-to-work program in which program participants were randomly allocated across service providers ('contractors') with different job placement practices. We draw on a telephone survey of contractors and on administrative program data linked with wage records data on all participants entering the program over a three-and-a half-year period. Our survey evidence documents a consensus among contractors that temporary help jobs are generally easier for those with weak skills and experience to obtain, but no consensus on whether temporary help jobs confer long-term benefits to participants. Our analysis of the quasi-experimental data introduced in Autor and Houseman (2005) shows that placing participants in either temporary or direct-hire jobs improves their odds of leaving welfare and escaping poverty in the short term. However, we find that only direct-hire placements help reduce welfare dependency over longer time horizons. Our findings raise questions about the incentive structure of many government employment programs that emphasize rapid placement of program participants into jobs and that may inadvertently encourage high placement rates with temporary help agencies.