UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

GEOGRAPHY 567, Autumn 1999


 
  
LABOR  PROCESSES  IN  REGIONAL  DEVELOPMENT

http://faculty.washington.edu/jwh/laborsem.html
Meetings: Thursdays, 3:30 –6:20 p.m., 409 Smith Hall

Instructor: Professor James W. Harrington; 303D Smith Hall

  Contact Info: e-mail jwh@u.washington.edu ; website http://faculty.washington.edu/jwh ; telephone 206-616-3821; fax 206-543-3313

Office Hours: Thursdays, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. and by appointment

 Objectives: The course seeks to provide a critical overview of the ways in which labor practicies affect the patterns of subnational, regional economic growth and development. Students will read material that embodies a variety of theoretical approaches, empirical methods, and political ideologies. Through the reading, discussion, test, and termpaper, each student should develop her/his own sense of the implications of the material for future research and for practical application.

Course Requirements
 
Preparation and participation (readings and term paper discussions) Focused on readings 30 Sep – 18 Nov; focused on papers – 2 Dec
20
Paper proposal  Due Monday morning 19 October
10
Take-home exam Due Monday morning 22 November
30
Term paper Due Thursday afternoon 9 December
40
TOTAL  
100

Outline, Readings, and Schedule:
(reading material is available in libraries, through the instructor, or through purchase (have not been pre-ordered through a bookstore;  details will be distributed in class).

LABOR and EMPLOYMENT

30 Sep: Prologue: role of L in regional growth and RED theory

Hoover, E.M. and Giarratani, F. 1985. How regions develop. Ch. 11 (pp. 303-349) in An Introduction to Regional Economics, third edition. New York: Knopf.

Peck, J. 1996. Introduction: places of work. Ch. 1 (pp. 1-20) in Work-Place: The Social Regulation of Labor Markets. New York: Guilford Press.
        Recommended purchase

30 Sep: Labor in economics

Eberts, R.W. and Stone, J.A. 1992. Chapters 1 and 2 in Wage and Employment Adjustment in Local Labor Markets. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
        Potential purchase

Krugman, P. 1994. Trade, jobs, and wages. Scientific American (April): 22-27. Reprinted as Ch. 3 (pp. 35-48) in Pop Internationalism by P. Krugman. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.

Fitzgerald, T.J.  1998.  An introduction to the search theory of unemployment.  Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland 34(3): 2-15.

7 Oct: From neoclassical to institutional models of labor and employment

Peck, J. 1996. Making workers: control, reproduction, regulation. Ch. 2 (pp. 23-45) in Work-Place: The Social Regulation of Labor Markets. New York: Guilford Press.
        Recommended purchase.

OPTIONAL: Briggs, V.M. 1987. Human resource development and the formulation of national economic policy. J. of Economic Issues 21(3): 1207-1240.

Oi, W.Y. 1962. Labor as a quasi-fixed factor. J. of Pol. Economy 70(6): 538-555.

Neale, W.C. 1987. Institutions. J. of Economic Issues 21(3): 1177-1206.

Doeringer, P.B. and Piore, M.J. 1971. Internal Labor Markets and Manpower Analysis. Lexington, MA: DC Heath.
        Chapters 1-2 are key: overview of the argument (and its intellectual history), and the basic rationale for ILMs
        Pages 74-78 (Chapter 4) specifically relate to Oi [1962].
        Chapter 8 introduces the concepts of dual LMs, and secondary LMs.
 
Interested students should read and compare:

Edwards, R.C., Reich, M., and Gordon, D.M. eds. 1973. Labor Market Segmentation. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath. 
         This is a set of 11 papers that investigate LM segmentation by (a) sector, (b) race, and (c) sex.
        Among the more general papers are:

  • R.C. Edwards, "The social relations of production in the firm and labor market structure." From external to ILMs and the corollary bureaucratic control; the complementary roles of secondary LMs.
  • M.J. Piore, "Notes for a theory of labor market stratification." On-the-job learning ("incidental learning") and job-mobility chains. 
Edwards, R. 1979. Contested Terrain: The Transformation of the Workplace in the Twentieth Century. New York: Basic Books.
         Chapter 9, "Labor redivided, part 1: segmented labor markets," pp. 163-183.
        Chapter 10, "Labor redivided, part 2: the fractions of the working class," pp. 184-199.

Peck, J. 1996. Structuring the labor market: a segmentation approach. Ch. 3 (pp. 46-82) in Work-Place: The Social Regulation of Labor Markets. New York: Guilford Press.
        Recommended purchase.

Burawoy, M. 1979. Manufacturing Consent: Changes in the Labor Process under Monopoly Capitalism. Chicago: U.Chicago Press.
        Students interested in ethnographic case studies based on participant observation may want to purchase this book.
        Ch.6, "The rise of an internal labor market," pp. 95-108, as a case study of the movement from external to internal LM.

Eberts, R.W. and Stone, J.A. 1992. Wage and Employment Adjustment in Local Labor Markets. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

Potential purchase.
Chapter 5 (pp. 107-126) deals with the very specific and identifiable institutional factors of unions, taxes, and public infrastructure, and how these affect cross-sectional comparisons of labor wages and labor adjustment (through wages, participation, and unemployment) across regions of the U.S.
Crouch, C.  1998.  Labor market regulations, social policy, and job creation.  J. Gual, ed.  Job Creation: The Role of Labor Market Institutions.  Cheltenham, UK:  Edward Elgar.

Gual, J.  1998.  The employment debate: employment performance and institutional change.  J. Gual, ed.  Job Creation: The Role of Labor Market Institutions.  Cheltenham, UK:  Edward Elgar.

  • These two chapters provide somewhat of a counterpoint on how to identify LM institutions:  Gual uses very straightforward, identifiable markers/measures, while Crouch asks more probing questions about who works and why. 
  • These are optional items. 
  • Students interested in national case studies may want to look at two other chapters:
Osterman, P.  1998.  The shifting structure of the American labor market.  J. Gual, ed.  Job Creation: The Role of Labor Market Institutions.  Cheltenham, UK:  Edward Elgar.

Salas, V.  1998.  External and internal labor markets in Spain: a relational contracts perspective.  J. Gual, ed.  Job Creation: The Role of Labor Market Institutions.  Cheltenham, UK:  Edward Elgar.

14 Oct: Geographies of labor and employment: local labor markets

Peck, J. 1996. Locating the local labor market: segmentation, regulation, space. Ch. 4 (pp. 83-118) in Work-Place: The Social Regulation of Labor Markets. New York: Guilford Press.
        Recommended purchase.

Hanson, S. and Pratt, G. 1992. Dynamic dependencies: a geographic investigation of local labor markets. Economic Geography 68(4): 373-405.

Bartik, T.  1993.  Who benefits from local job growth: migrants of the original residents?  Regional Studies 27(4): 297-311.
 
OPTIONAL:
Ranney, D.C. and Betancur, J.J.  1992.  Labor-force-based development: a community-oriented approach to targeting job training and industrial development.  Economic Development Quarterly 6(3), reprinted as Ch. 7 in J.P. Blair and L.A. Reese, eds.  Approaches to Economic Development, pp. 85-95.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage Publications.
  • This will be especially useful for students interested in (a) practice and (b) community economic development. 
  • Students interested in the interface between “regional” and “community” economic development should also see:
Wiewel, W., Brown, B., and Morris, M.  1989.  The linkage between regional and neighborhood development.  Economic Development Quarterly 3(2), reprinted as Ch. 9 in J.P. Blair and L.A. Reese, eds.  Approaches to Economic Development, pp. 113-129.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage Publications.

Harrington, J.W. and Ferguson, D.A. 1999. Social Institutions, Labor Processes, and Regional Economic Development. Ch. 2 in B. Johansson, C. Karlsson, and R. Stough, eds. Endogenous Regional Economic Development: Theories, Applications and Policy. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

19 Oct: termpaper proposals due

21 Oct: Geographies of labor and employment: regional economic development

OPTIONAL: Romer, P.M. 1986. Increasing returns and long-run growth. J. of Political Economy 94(5): 1002-1037.

OPTIONAL: Amin, A. 1999. An institutionalist perspective on regional economic development. International J. of Urban and Regional Research 23(2): 365-378.

OPTIONAL: Amin, A. and Thrift, N. 1994. Globalization, Institutions, and Regional Development in Europe. Oxford: Oxford U. Press.
         This is a potentially useful resource for people developing papers that take a regional-comparative view.

Mathur, V.K. 1999. Human capital based strategy for regional economic development. Economic Development Quarterly 13(3): 203-216.

Peck, J. 1996. Flexibilizing labor: insecure work in unstable places. Ch. 5 (pp. 119-152) in Work-Place: The Social Regulation of Labor Markets. New York: Guilford Press.
        Recommended purchase.

Markusen, A. 1996. Sticky places in slippery space: a typology of industrial districts. Economic Geography 72: 293-313.

OPTIONAL: DiGiovanna, S. 1996. Industrial districts and regional economic development: a regulation approach. Regional Studies 30(4): 373-386.

This article attempts to compare the dominant forms of labor market regulation, inter-firm competition, product markets, and state support for production, in Emilia-Romagna, Baden Württemberg, and Silicon Valley. This is useful for students contemplating a comparative regional approach.
OPTIONAL CASES AND CRITIQUE:

Altman, M. 1996. Labour regulation and enterprise strategies in the South African clothing industry. Regional Studies 30(4): 387-399.

Malmberg, A. 1996. Industrial geography: agglomeration and local milieu. Progress in Human Geography 20(3): 392-403.

Lovering, J. 1995. Creating discourses rather than jobs: the crisis in the cities and the transition fantasies of intellectuals and policy makers. P. Healey et al., eds. Managing Cities: The New Urban Context. Chichester: Wiley.

Lovering, J. 1998. Theory led by policy? The inadequacies of ‘the new regionalism’ in economic geography illustrated from the case of Wales. Presented at Economic Geography Research Group seminar, 3 July, UCL, London.

Saxenian, A. 1994. Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U. Press.

Ellis, M., Barff, R., and Markusen, A. 1993. Defense spending and interregional labor migration. Economic Geography 69: 182-203.

Beatty, C. and Fothergill, S. 1996. Labour market adjustment in areas of chronic industrial decline: the case of the UK coalfields. Regional Studies 30(7): 627-640.
 
 
OPTIONAL FOLLOW-UP TO BEATTY & FOTHERGILL

Green, A.E. 1999. Insights into unemployment and non-employment in Europe using alternative measures. Regional Studies 33(5): 453-464.

Sutherland, J. 1999. Further reflections on hidden unemployment. Regional Studies 33(5): 465-476.

28 Oct: Geographies of labor and employment: labor geography

Herod, A. 1997. From a geography of labor to a labor geography: labor’s spatial fix and the geography of capitalism. Antipode 29: 1-31.

OPTIONAL: Martin, R., Sunley, P., and Wills, J. 1996. Situating trade unionism: spaces of regulation and representation. Ch. 2 in Union Retreat and the Regions. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Peck, J. 1996. Localizing labor: geopolitics of labor regulation. Ch. 8 (pp. 232-260) in Work-Place: The Social Regulation of Labor Markets. New York: Guilford Press.
        Recommended purchase.
 
 
OPTIONAL CASES:

Herod, A. 1997. Labor as an agent of globalization and as a global agent. K. Cox, ed. Spaces of Globalization, pp. 167-200. New York: Guilford.

Wills, J. 1998. Taking on the CosmoCorps? Experiments in transnational labor organization. Economic Geography 74(2): 111-130.

Herod, A. 1997. Notes on a spatialized labour politics: scale and the political geography of dual unionism in the US longshore industry. Ch. 15 in Lee, R., and Wills, J., eds. Geographies of Economies. London: Arnold.

Ruesga, S.M. and Resa-Nestares, C. 1998. Regional and institutional changes in European labour markets. Ch. 4 in Institutions and Regional Labour Markets in Europe, ed. by L. van der Laan and S.M. Ruesga. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Galbraith, J.K. 1995. A global living wage. C. Crouch and D. Marquand, eds. Reinventing Collective Action: From the Global to the Local, pp. 54-60. Oxford: Blackwell.

Streeck, W.  1993.  Training and the new industrial relations: a strategic role for unions.  Ch. 10 S. R. Sleigh, ed.  Economic Restructuring and Emerging Patterns of Industrial Relations.  Kalamazoo, MI:  W.E. Upjohn Institute.

Methodological issues: Martin, R., Sunley, P., and Wills, J. 1994. Labouring differences: method, measurement and purpose in geographical research on trade unions. Transactions of the IBG 19: 102-110.

Massey, D. 1994. The geography of trade unions: some issues. Transactions of the IBG 19: 95-98.

Painter, J. 1994. Trade union geography: alternative frameworks for analysis. Transactions of the IBG 19: 99-101.
 

4 Nov [Note that the time for this meeting may need to be changed]: Accounting for alternative employment arrangements

Houseman, S.N. and Polivka, A.E. 1999. The implications of flexible staffing arrangements for job security. Upjohn Institute Staff Working Paper No. 99-056. Available at http://www.upjohninst.org/publications/wp/9956wp.html.

Allen, J. and Henry, N. 1997. Ulrich Beck's "Risk Society" at work: labour and employment in the contract service industries. Transactions of the IBG 22(2): 180-196.

Jarvis, H. 1997. Housing, labour markets and household structure: questioning the role of secondary data analysis in sustaining the polarization debate. Regional Studies 31(5): 521-531.
 
 
OPTIONAL CASES:

Christopherson, S. and Storper, M. 1989. The effects of flexible specialization on industrial politics and the labor market: the motion picture industry. Industrial and Labor Relations Review 42(3): 331-347.

Coutts, K. and Rowthorn, B. 1995. Employment in the United Kingdom: trends and prospects. C. Crouch and D. Marquand, eds. Reinventing Collective Action: From the Global to the Local, pp. 61-78. Oxford: Blackwell.

Geary, J.F. 1992. Employment flexibility and human resource management: the case of three American electronics plants. Work, Employment & Society 6(2): 251-270.

 

9 Nov?? [Thu 11 Nov is a University holiday] Race and employment

OPTIONAL: Hughes, E.C. 1949. Queries concerning industry and society growing out of study of ethnic relations in industry. American Sociological Review 14. Reprinted in The Sociological Eye, ed. By D. Riesman and H.S. Becker. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1984.

At this point in the quarter, we may elect to have each student select one of the following chapters, whose titles are self-explanatory, and which cover the topics in an economic analysis:

Cain, G.G.  1991.  The uses and limits of statistical analysis in measuring economic discrimination.  E.P. Hoffman, ed. Essays on the Economics of Discrimination, pp. 115-144.  Kalamazoo, MI:  W.E. Upjohn Institute.

Ferber, M.A. and Green, C.A.  1991  Occupational segregation and the earnings gap: further evidence. E.P. Hoffman, ed.  Essays on the Economics of Discrimination, pp. 145-165.  Kalamazoo, MI:  W.E. Upjohn Institute.

Leonard, J.S.  1991.  The Federal anti-bias effort. E.P. Hoffman, ed.  Essays on the Economics of Discrimination, pp. 85-114.  Kalamazoo, MI:  W.E. Upjohn Institute.
 

Doeringer, P.B. and Piore, M.J. 1971. Racial discrimination in internal labor markets. Ch. 7 (pp. 133-162) in Internal Labor Markets and Manpower Analysis. Lexington, MA: DC Heath.
 

"Spatial mismatch"

Hodge, D.C. 1996. Introduction. The Professional Geographer 48(4): 417-419.

Cooke, J.J. 1996. City-suburb differences in African American male labor market achievement. The Professional Geographer 48(4): 458-467.

Holloway, S.R. 1996. Job accessibility and male teenage employment, 1980-1990: the declining significance of space? The Professional Geographer 48(4): 445-458.

McLafferty, S. and Preston, V. 1996. Spatial mismatch an employment in a decade of restructuring. The Professional Geographer 48(4): 420-431.

Wyly, E.K. 1996. Race, gender, and spatial segmentation in the Twin Cities. The Professional Geographer 48(4): 431-445.

Immergluck, D. 1998. Neighborhood economic development and local working: the effect of nearby jobs on where residents work. Economic Geography 74(2): 170-187.
 
 

18 Nov: WORK and LABOR PROCESS

Sociology of work

Castillo, J.J. 1999. Sociology of work at the crossroad. Current Sociology 47(2): 21-46.

Foster, J.B. 1998. Introduction to the new edition. Braverman, H. Labor and Monopoly Capital, pp. ix-xxiv. New York: Monthly Review Press.
           Potential purchase.

Braverman, H 1998. Labor and labor power. Ch. 1 in Labor and Monopoly Capital, 25th anniv. ed., pp. 31-40. New York: Monthly Review Press.
        Potential purchase.

Burawoy, M. 1979. Manufacturing Consent: Changes in the Labor Process under Monopoly Capitalism. Chicago: U.Chicago Press.
        Potential purchase.
        Read the Preface and Chapter 2.

Organization of work; the labor process

Burawoy, Ch.4, "Thirty years of making out," pp. 46-73, provides an empirical case (in two points in time) of the labor process in a machine shop.
Ch.5, "The labor process as a game," pp. 77-94, provides a more theoretical interpretation of this "game" that ends up creating worker consent to provide labor power at a high rate.
Ch.9, "The labor process and worker consciousness," pp.135-157, relates "imported consciousness" (attitudes toward oneself and others that reflect background, training, and exposure outside the workplace) to production relations and the willingness to yield labor power.
Ch.11, "Class struggle and capitalist competition," pp.178-192, explores how changes in class consciousness and inter-firm competition end up affecting the organization of work (i.e., the elements of the L process. [This is not as mandatory as the other chapters I’ve listed here].
 
 
OPTIONAL:

Edwards, R. 1970. Contested Terrain: The Transformation of the Workplace in the Twentieth Century. New York: Basic Books.
        Attempts to develop a typology of methods of labor control.

Jonas, A.E.G. 1996. Local labour control regimes. Regional Studies 30(4): 323-338.

 

Work in different spheres

Peck, J. 1996. Domesticating work: restructuring at work, restructuring at home. Ch. 6 (pp. 153-184) in Work-Place: The Social Regulation of Labor Markets. New York: Guilford Press.
        Recommended purchase.

Hanson, S. and Pratt, G. 1995. Household arrangements and the geography of employment. Ch. 5, pp. 120-156 in Gender, Work, and Space. London: Routledge.

Vaiou, D. 1997. Informal cities? Women’s work and informal activities on the margins of the European Union. Ch. 25 in Lee, R., and Wills, J., eds. 1997. Geographies of Economies. London: Arnold.
 
 
OPTIONAL: 

Mingione, E. 1985. Social reproduction of the surplus labour force: the case of Southern Italy. N. Redclift and E. Mingione, eds. Beyond Employment: Household, Gender and Subsistence. (Ch. 1, pp. 14-54). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Roldán, M. 1985. Industrial outworking, struggles for the reproduction of working-class families and gender subordination. N. Redclift and E. Mingione, eds. Beyond Employment: Household, Gender and Subsistence. (Ch. 8, pp. 248-285). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

22 Nov: take-home test due

No class meeting the week of 22 November

2 Dec: discuss termpapers

9 Dec: termpapers due

Copyright James W. Harrington, Jr.
Revised 6 September 1999