Welcome to the Employment Policy Research Network!
We come to you as a diverse group of 150 academic researchers from more than 50 universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom who share a deep interest and concern about the state of work and employment in the United States and around the world.
We formed this research network because of our shared concern that there has been limited use of analytically well-grounded,evidenced-based research to formulate appropriate policy responses for the greatest jobs-employment crisis since the Great Depression.
Instead of developing and implementing policy based on evidence from research and experience, the country is locked in an ideological stalemate over nearly every aspect of employment policy. Our hope is to reframe policy debates using our collective knowledge based on rigorous research about the functioning of labor markets to better address the aftermath of the Great Recession and help put into place the public and private laws, policies and practices to make the 21st century economically prosperous.
We will use this Web site to communicate research on employment policy issues to government policy officials, the press and public, and leaders in business, labor, and other labor market institutions who share an interest in and responsibility for shaping the future of employment policy and practice. Postings will include published scholarly papers, working papers, op-ed pieces, policy briefs, and blog references to available data sets and resources on other websites. We invite comments and questions.
We initally picked two issues as priority topics to inaugurate the research network and website. The two most critical issues of the day are how to address the jobs deficit and protracted unemployment and how to deal with the long-term stagnation in wages that continues to hold down the standard of living of workers and families. The third issue is public-sector collective bargaining as part of a national discussion begun with the Wisconsin law that both demanded more from state and local unionized teachers and others as well as curtailing collective-bargaining rights. As the challenge to unions spread to other states, EPRN researchers contributed to interpreting the events for media, the public and policy makers.
EPRN is hosted by the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) a non-profit, non-partisan association of academics, practitioners, union members, management and "neutrals" in the labor and employment field. LERA’s membership spans the mix of research disciplines including economics, labor-management relations, human resources and sociology. We thank the Rockefeller, Russell Sage and Ewing Marion Kauffman foundations for their financial support.
The Employment Policy Research Network Steering Committee:
Eileen Appelbaum, Lawrence Katz, Thomas Kochan, David Lewin, Lisa Lynch, Daniel Mitchell, Andrew Sum
Researcher/Media/Policymaker contact: Mike Lillich (217) 244-0725; (217) 898-1928; lillich@illinois.edu
