Work, Pay, and Sustainability

A New Economics of Labor

Daphne T. Greenwood (University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, CO)

$39.95

Paperback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

Polity Press
13 December 2024

Labour economics; Environmental economics

Daphne Greenwood presents the first comprehensive introduction to pluralist labor economics. She expands the economics toolbox with theories taken from institutionalist, feminist, social, ecological, and stratification economists. Pluralists, she explains, focus on how formal and informal institutions affect the distribution of productivity dividends—and how this has evolved over time. Pluralists are concerned with job quality as well as financial compensation. They acknowledge the modern-day abundance created by technology, but advocate for institutional changes to direct it in equitable and sustainable ways.

Building on the work of many heterodox economists, Greenwood introduces wage and employment models that are embedded in the economy, environment, and society. Beginning with evidence on work and pay in the US today, she explains why tools for analyzing commodity exchange are not sufficient for analyzing labor relationships. She brings bargaining power to the fore, analyses dynamic monopsony, and looks at the role of wealth as well as income in framing opportunities. Throughout the book, Greenwood addresses threats to sustainability and equity from unpaid social costs; institutional changes such as financialization and fissured workplaces; as well as race-ethnicity and gender. Among the possibilities explored for improving work and pay are sectoral bargaining, job guarantees, worker-owned cooperatives, and universal basic income.

The first undergraduate-friendly book on its topic, Work, Pay and Sustainability is an important resource for students and scholars alike.

By: Daphne T. Greenwood (University of Colorado-Colorado Springs CO)
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781509536757
ISBN 10: 1509536752
Pages: 260
Publication Date: 13 December 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Preface and Acknowledgments List of Figures and Tables List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 Work, Pay and Sustainability: Taking a Pluralist Approach 2 Labor Has Three Faces, Unlike Broccoli 3 Labor and the Web of Working Rules 4 Wages and Why They Vary: The Big Picture 5 Wages and Why They Vary: Demand and Supply 6 How Market Structures and Firm Characteristics Affect Pay 7 Inside the Pyramid: Three Faces and Dual Markets 8 Rising Economic Inequality 9 Job Quality: Beyond Pay and Benefits 10 Work and Pay: New Challenges, New Solutions 11 Work, Pay, and Well-Being in a World of Abundance 12 Taking a Pluralist Approach to Work and Pay Notes References Glossary Index Sales rights For sale with exclusive rights in the specified country/ies World

Daphne T. Greenwood is Professor Emerita of Economics at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Reviews for Work, Pay, and Sustainability: A New Economics of Labor

“Greenwood has created a valuable resource for teaching labor economics more pluralistically and realistically. Presenting alternative analyses and perspectives, she makes labor economics relevant and useful for understanding real-life problems in the US economy today.” Janice Peterson, California State University, Fresno “As perhaps the first undergraduate-friendly book on its topic, this volume is an important resource for students, but also for a wider audience of scholars and economists working in the area of inequality. Highly recommended.” Edward Wolff, New York University “What determines pay? What constitutes workplace fairness? Is environmental sustainability compatible with expanding job opportunities? Greenwood provides compelling answers to a wide range of such questions. This is both an outstanding textbook and a resource for everyone interested in understanding conditions for working people today.” Robert Pollin, University of Massachusetts Amherst