The Harvard University Department of Sociology

Soohan Kim

Graduate Student in Sociology

09/25/2008
Research Interests
Work, Organization, Economic Sociology, Labor Markets

 

Qualifying Paper Title
Costs of Protection? Employment Protection and the Diffusion of Temporary Help Agency Employment in U.S. Organizations, 1971 to 2000
Committee
Frank Dobbin, Peter Marsden, Mary Brinton
Abstract
The temporary help agency employment has rapidly grown in US organizations in the past three decades. Labor economists view the growth of temporary help agency (THA) employment as a consequence of employment protection regulations. By contrast, this study finds that the enforcement and intraorganizational consequences of employment protection have discouraged the adoption of THA employment by employers. Using a sample of 817 establishments from Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-1 reports, matched with a longitudinal survey data on employment practices, I conducted event history analyses to examine the adoption of THA employment among US organizations from 1971 to 2000. The analyses demonstrate that an organization that has experienced discrimination suits is less likely to adopt THA employment. An organization that has had an EEO policy in place for a long time is also less likely to adopt THA employment. This study suggests that employment protection has restrained, not fostered, the diffusion of THA employment.

 

Presentations and Publications

"Dynamics of Framing Processes: Generation, Diffusion, and Transformation" ASA, San Francisco, CA August 14-17, 2004
"Change of Employment Patterns and Workplace Disputes in U.S. Organizations" ASA, Montreal, Canada August 11-14, 2006

Miscellaneous Additional Information

Optional Sections on General Exams
Sociology of Development, Political Sociology
Software Skills
STATA, SPSS

 

 

Contact


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