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Corporations directing our attention online more than we realize
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — We know how search engines can favor certain results and how social media might push us into bubbles, but it’s still easy to view the internet as a place where we’re in control. A new study, however, argues that notion of personal empowerment is “an illusion.” Corporations are “nudging” the flow of […]
Rise in labor earnings inequality during pandemic reversed by stimulus, unemployment checks
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Job losses during the pandemic were substantially worse among workers in low-paying jobs, leading to a dramatic increase in wage inequality during the early months of the COVID-19 recession, says new research co-written by a University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign labor economist. The effect would have been even more pronounced if the federal […]
Should government do more for the working poor during pandemic?
Editor’s note: Robert Bruno is a professor of labor and employment relations at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the director of the Labor Education Program in Chicago. Bruno, an expert in labor history and politics, spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil Ciciora about how the government can help working-class people survive […]
Paper: Industry concentration contributes to job quality erosion, wage stagnation
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Cratering job quality and weak wage growth in the U.S. have typically been attributed to a combination of technological change, waning worker bargaining power and increased pressures from trade and financial markets. But according to research co-written by a University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign expert who studies economic sociology, increased industry concentration also […]
Can Major League Baseball owners, players avoid another work stoppage?
Editor’s note: Daniel A. Gilbert is a labor and history professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author of the 2013 book “Expanding the Strike Zone: Baseball in the Age of Free Agency.” Gilbert, a cultural historian and an expert on the labor history of the modern baseball industry, spoke with News Bureau […]
Paper: Mundane behavioral decisions, actions can be ‘misremembered’ as done
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — There’s a reason why people often forget to take a daily medication or respond to that email they’ve been meaning to send, and it can be chalked up to the gulf between intention and actually completing an action, according to new research co-written by a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign expert who […]
Study: Interplay of impact, moral goals influences charitable giving to different causes
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Charitable giving is a nearly half-trillion-dollar sector of the U.S. economy, but what accounts for why some individuals, foundations and corporations give locally while others give to charities on the other side of the globe? According to a new paper co-written by a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign expert in consumer behavior […]
Why are familiar brands with Black images getting a rethink?
Editor’s note: Aunt Jemima is retiring. Uncle Ben is changing. Mrs. Butterworth is getting a review. One way or another, these and other familiar brands are being rethought due to their use of Black images in packaging and ads. Jason Chambers can explain why. He’s a professor of advertising at the University of Illinois at […]
Control over work-life boundaries creates crucial buffer to manage after-hours work stress
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — When work intrudes after hours in the form of pings and buzzes from smartphone alerts, it can cause spikes of stress that lead to a host of adverse effects for workers, including negative work rumination, poor affect and insomnia. But according to research co-written by a team of researchers at the University […]
Paper: Pandemic-fueled job losses exacerbating preexisting inequalities among workers
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The sharp spike in job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic were disproportionately concentrated in lower-paying occupations and industries, with the most acute impact felt among women, minorities, younger workers and less-educated workers, according to new research co-written by a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign labor economist. While some of the highest-paid […]
Study: Benefits of workplace wellness programs underwhelming
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — An interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign conducted a two-year study on the efficacy of workplace wellness programs and found that such programs have little impact on employee health, health beliefs and medical utilization. Since the passage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the workplace wellness industry […]
Study: Cultural variables play important role in perceptions of status, power
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Are powerful individuals such as politicians necessarily viewed by others as having high status? And conversely, are high-status individuals such as tech moguls always seen as powerful? According to new research co-written by a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign expert in consumer behavior and global marketing, the answer depends on one’s cultural […]