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  5. Labor, Security and Power Dynamics in the Labor Market
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Labor, Security and Power Dynamics in the Labor Market

Paper Session

Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (EST)

Philadelphia Convention Center, 303-B
Hosted By: Association for Evolutionary Economics & Association for Social Economics
  • Chair: Valerie Kepner, King's College

Bargaining-power in Households - A Measurement Issue

Hoa Vo
,
American University
Natalia Radchenko
,
American University

Abstract

In the context of widening inequalities and persistent gender stratifications, accurate measurement of individual agency within households has become increasingly important for understanding the ethical and distributive dimensions of economic life.
Bargaining power within households influences decision-making, resource allocation, and individual well-being.
Addressing the limitations of current metrics, this paper proposes a data distribution based bargaining power index and highlights underlying deviations from predominant social norms. By analyzing how individuals conform to or diverge from normative decision-making patterns, this approach captures variations in agency, power, and constraint within the household. Ultimately, this provides a more rigorous tool for examining how gendered power structures and social norms intersect to shape women's labor supply.

Pay Her More and Other Strategies for Closing the Gender Wage Gap

Valerie Kepner
,
King's College
Paula Cole
,
University of Denver

Abstract

The U.S. gender wage gap is well documented and acknowledged by many Americans—less clear is why and how to reduce this economic problem. This paper seeks to outline the weakened economic power women have from lower wages and propose key changes that will help close the gender wage gap. The most direct way to close the gender wage gap is to increase her earnings. We examine how raising the national minimum wage would improve the earnings of women. Additionally, we evaluate efforts to improve pay transparency to give women more economic power. Finally, we examine the importance of reproductive freedom as necessary for closing the gender wage gap and this fight over economic power.

Rethinking Job Security: Alternatives to the Tenure Model in a Changing Labor Market

Miki Malul
,
Ben Gurion University

Abstract

As the labor market undergoes rapid transformation, the traditional tenure model faces increasing scrutiny. This study investigates alternative policy models that could provide job security in a dynamic employment landscape. Specifically, we analyze how individuals assess job security across three key dimensions: income stability, employment continuity assurance, and workplace security. We simulate various welfare policy scenarios, including alternative unemployment benefit structures, workfare programs, and basic income models.

The Pain of Creative Destruction

Ranganath Murthy
,
Western New England University

Abstract

Mainstream economic theory argues that free trade benefits the nation as a whole: the gains of the winners are large enough to more than compensate the losses suffered by the losers. In practice, such compensation has not transcended the hypothetical. The pain of creative destruction has hence fallen most heavily on those least able to withstand its perennial gale—workers, who have nothing to sell but their own labor. The mechanistic models of mainstream economic theory assume implicitly that labor markets are fluid and frictionless, even in the relatively short run. In such a world, workers who lose their jobs to cheap imports will quickly find good jobs in booming industries, by relocating if necessary. In recent years, mainstream and even some conservative economists are waking up to the fact that globalization has not led to widely shared prosperity. This essay surveys the impact of trade on jobs in the United States since the end of World War II.
JEL Classifications
  • J0 - General
  • B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches