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Paper: Job-quality indicator points to mixed bag for Illinois workers
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —A team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign labor experts has developed a metric for measuring the quality of jobs throughout the state of Illinois. The findings are a mix of positive and negative news for Illinois workers. Called the “Employment Quality of Illinois,” the indicator was based on research comparing data collected from […]

What were the underlying issues of the railroad labor dispute?
Michael LeRoy is an expert in labor law and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. LeRoy, who advised the Council of Economic Advisers for President George W. Bush during an emergency labor dispute in 2001, spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the averted strike with railroad unions that […]

What explains ‘quiet quitting’ in the workplace?
YoungAh Park is a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who studies work stress and recovery. Park spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about “quiet quitting” at work. Is “quiet quitting” any different than work withdrawal or employee disengagement? Scholars have studied work withdrawal as […]

Paper: Older workers seeking federal disability benefits during recessions are healthier
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It’s a well-established pattern that poor economic conditions lead to increased admissions into Social Security Disability Insurance, the federal safety net program for individuals who suffer permanent work-limiting disabilities. But according to a new paper co-written by a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign scholars, individuals who entered the disability program when […]

How will the Inflation Reduction Act affect US environmental policy?
Don Fullerton is the Gutgsell Professor of Finance at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a senior scholar at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs. Fullerton, an expert in energy and environmental policy, spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the environmental impact of […]

Will pre-pandemic office life ever make a comeback?
Amit Kramer is a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who studies the relationship between work, family and health. Kramer spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the future of office work. As the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs, remote work is gradually turning into hybrid work […]

What’s the potential of blockchain technology?
Robert Brunner is the associate dean for innovation and chief disruption officer at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he helped spearhead efforts to create iBlock, the first blockchain created by a business school. Brunner spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the potential of […]

What explains the cryptocurrency crash?
Robert Brunner is the associate dean for innovation and chief disruption officer at the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he helped spearhead efforts to create iBlock, the first blockchain created by a business school. Brunner spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about turbulence in the […]

Private investment in California’s solar energy industry increases climate vulnerabilities, study finds
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — California is a national leader in renewable energy development. But energy systems development is driven more by financial considerations than environmental ones, leaving customers more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researcher determined. Sean Kennedy is a professor in urban and regional planning whose research interests […]

Who wins and who loses in MLB labor dispute?
For the first time since the mid-1990s, the MLB season will have regular-season games canceled over a labor dispute. Michael LeRoy, an expert in labor law and labor relations at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about the years-in-the-making labor strife engulfing professional baseball. The owners […]

Study: Pro-worker ideas in political platforms resonate with voters
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new paper co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign expert who studies the intersection of labor unions and politics found that political parties whose manifestos contained a greater percentages of pro-worker ideas were more appealing to voters. The study, spanning 54 countries and more than 1,100 political parties, uncovered predictors of […]

Paper: Regional public universities make local economies more resilient
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Regional economies are routinely subject to the whims of the business cycle that can lead to job losses and lower incomes for residents when a recession hits or an industry declines. But new research co-written by a team of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economists finds that counties that also are home to […]