With the Foundation's support, more than 100 experts across the nation have formed an online forum dedicated to the empirical analysis of America’s most pressing labor issues.
With the Foundation’s support, more than 100 experts across the nation have formed an online forum dedicated to the empirical analysis of America’s most pressing labor issues.
America is in the midst of its worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression. Even though the economic downturn officially ended in June 2009, millions remain out of work—a sobering reality for a labor market that has endured nearly three decades of stagnant wages. Meanwhile, as budget deficits continue to mount, an acrimonious debate has erupted across the country over collective bargaining, public sector employee salaries and pension programs.
While policymakers and activists debate a "jobs agenda," the Foundation has supported a new collaboration among the nation's premier labor experts and economists. Led by Thomas Kochan (MIT), more than 100 researchers have agreed to contribute to the Employment Policy Research Network, an online forum dedicated to nonpartisan and empirical analysis of more than a dozen employment-related issues, including workforce development, compensation and social insurance. A full list of topics is available here.
Launched in early 2011 as a key component of the Labor and Employment Relations Association, the EPRN website hopes to serve as a virtual think tank, disseminating timely research to experts and policymakers alike. Users can register at the website, ask policy-related questions and browse through more than 100 different papers, blogs and other materials. For more information, contact EPRN Managing Editor Mike Lillich at lillich [at] illinois [dot] edu, or at (217) 244-0725.