>Below is a question about the literature related to something
>I'm writing.
>
>I'm writing a paper on changes over the postwar period
>in the US in what I call "wage dependence." Wage
>dependence (WD) is the ratio:
>
> employment income
>WD = ---------------------------------------------------------------
> employment income + government goods&services
>
>where government goods&services are those that contribute
>to workers' material standard of living (public education, public
>health, part of the transportation network).
>
>The lower is WD, the less dependent workers are on
>capitalists for their standard of living and, so the greater
>is workers' relative bargaining power. The ratio WD is related
>to, but different from, the cost of job loss (which takes account
>of unemployment insurance, length of unemployment, etc).
>
>THE QUESTION:
>There is the literature on the "social wage" which is primarily
>concerned with the sign of:
> gov't spending on workers - government taxes on workers.
>In a 1982 Politics&Society article, Bowles&Gintis discuss the
>"citizen wage", which is related to WD.
>
>Do Pen-lers know of any other literature which has been directly
>concerned with the ratio WD?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Eric
>
>.
>Eric Nilsson
>Department of Economics
>California State University
>San Bernardino, CA 92407
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
Eric,
Afraid this doesn't answer the question. My (non-rhetorical) question is
"what does this pick up that a properly specified "cost of job loss" number
doesn't?". By "properly specified" I mean including govt goods and services
in the calculation. Presumably this will be a '% of all income lost as a
result of job loss" measure?
Best,
Rich Parkin
Rich Parkin,
Economics Dept.,
400 Wickenden Building,
10,900 Euclid Ave.,
Case Western Reserve University,
Cleveland, OH 44106-7206
(216) 368-4294 (w)
