Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

Block, Sharon / Harris, Benjamin H. (eds.), Inequality and the Labor Market: The Case for Greater Competition. 261 pp. 2021:4 (Brookings Institution Pr., US) <680-292>
ISBN 978-0-8157-3880-0 paper ¥10,202.- (税込) GB￡ 35.00 *

Exploring a new agenda to improve outcomes for American workersAs the United States continues to struggle with the impact of the devastating COVID-19 recession, policymakers have an opportunity to redress the competition problems in our labor markets. Making the right policy choices, however, requires a deep understanding of long-term, multidimensional problems. That will be solved only by looking to the failures and unrealized opportunities in anti-trust and labor law.For decades, competition in the U.S. labor market has declined, with the result that American workers have experienced slow wage growth and diminishing job quality. While sluggish productivity growth, rising globalization, and declining union representation are traditionally cited as factors for this historic imbalance in economic power, weak competition in the labor market is increasingly being recognized as a factor as well.This book by noted experts frames the legal and economic consequences of this imbalance and presents a series of urgently needed reforms of both labor and anti-trust laws to improve outcomes for American workers. These include higher wages, safer workplaces, increased ability to report labor violations, greater mobility, more opportunities for workers to build power, and overall better labor protections.Inequality and the Labor Market will interest anyone who cares about building a progressive economic agenda or who has a marked interest in labor policy. It also will appeal to anyone hoping to influence or anticipate the much-needed progressive agenda for the United States. The book's unusual scope provides prescriptions that, as Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz notes in the introduction, map a path for rebalancing power, not just in our economy but in our democracy.

Goldsmith, Stephen / Coleman, Kate Markin, Growing Fairly: How to Build Opportunity and Equity in Workforce Development. 220 pp. 2022:2 (Brookings Institution Pr., US) <680-293>
ISBN 978-0-8157-3948-7 paper ¥8,745.- (税込) GB￡ 30.00 *

Tested, practical ideas to meet current and future skilling needs of both workers and employersThe labor market in the United States faces seemingly contradictory challenges: Many employers have trouble finding qualified applicants for current and future jobs, while millions of Americans are out of work or are underemployed-their paths to living-wage jobs blocked by systemic barriers or lack of adequate skills.Growing Fairly offers workforce development reforms that meet the needs of both workers and employers. Based on the experiences of hundreds of leaders and workers, the authors set out ten principles for designing a more effective and equitable system that helps workers obtain the skills necessary for economic mobility.The principles outlined in the book argue for a more comprehensive view of the skilling needs of current and prospective workers. They spell out the attributes of effective programs and make the case for skill-based hiring, widely distributed performance data, and collaboration. The book emphasizes the importance of local action to overcome the structural barriers that challenge even the most determined would-be learners. Growing Fairly shows cross sector leaders how to work across organizational boundaries to change the trajectory of individuals struggling to make a living wage.This is not a book of untested theories. Instead, it is written by practitioners for practitioners. Much of it is told through the voices of those who run programs and people who have taken advantage of them. While the issues the book addresses are profound, its take on the subject is optimistic.Between them, the authors have spent decades searching out and supporting effective practices. Even more critically, they have learned how to knit competing agencies and organizations into cohesive systems with coordinated missions. Their practical ideas will benefit a wide range of readers, from practitioners in the field to students and scholars of the American labor system.

Goulart, Pedro / Ramos, Raul / Ferrittu, Gianluca (eds.), Global Labour in Distress. Volume I: Globalization, Technology and Labour Resilience. (Palgrave Readers in Economics) 329 pp. 2022:7 (Palgrave Macmillan, UK) <680-294>
ISBN 978-3-030-89257-9 hard ¥42,632.- (税込) EUR 169.99 *

The first volume focuses on globalization, international migration, employment, labour agency, technological change, and labour resilience. This book aims to examine how labour institutions, both in developed and developing countries, have responded to the challenges faced over the last 30 years. It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in labour economics, political economy, and development economics.

Goulart, Pedro / Ramos, Raul / Ferrittu, Gianluca (eds.), Global Labour in Distress. Volume II: Earnings, (In)decent Work and Institutions. (Palgrave Readers in Economics) 329 pp. 2022:7 (Palgrave Macmillan, UK) <680-295>
ISBN 978-3-030-89264-7 hard ¥42,632.- (税込) EUR 169.99 *

This book, the second of two volumes, explores the transformations to the labour market observed since the offi cial end of the Cold War in 1991. This period is defi ned by the retreat of the state and a move towards more market-based economies, followed by a State comeback with the Great Recession. These bumpy decades for labour and changing labour policies are analysed thematically. The second volume focuses on labour earnings and inequality, underemployment, (in)decent work, and labour market policies. This book aims to examine how labour institutions, both in developed and developing countries, have responded to the challenges faced over the last 30 years. It will be relevant to students and researchers interested in labour economics, political economy, and development economics.

Qureshi, Zia / Woo, Cheonsik (eds.), Shifting Paradigms: Growth, Finance, Jobs, and Inequality in the Digital Economy. 240 pp. 2022:1 (Brookings Institution Pr., US) <680-209>
ISBN 978-0-8157-3900-5 paper ¥8,745.- (税込) GB￡ 30.00 *

Addressing the big questions about how technological change is transforming economies and societiesRapid technological change-likely to accelerate as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic-is reshaping economies and how they grow. But change also causes disruption, creates winners and losers, and produces social stress. This book examines the challenges of digital transformation and suggests how creative policies can make it more productive and inclusive.Shifting Paradigms is the second book on technological change produced by a joint research project of the Brookings Institution and the Korea Development Institute. Contributors are experts from the United States, Europe, and Korea. The first volume, Growth in a Time of Change, was published by Brookings in February 2020.The book's underlying thesis is that the future is arriving faster than expected. Long-accepted paradigms about economic growth are changing as digital technologies transform markets and nearly every aspect of business and work. Change will only intensify with advances in artificial intelligence and other innovations.Investors, business leaders, workers, and public officials face many questions. Is rising market concentration inevitable with the new technologies or can their benefits be more widely shared? How can the promise of FinTech be captured while managing risks? Should workers fear the new automation? Are technology-driven shifts in business and work causing income inequality to rise? How should public policy respond?Shifting Paradigms addresses these questions in an engaging manner for anyone interested in understanding how the economic and social agenda is being transformed by today's winds of change.