THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPARABLE WORTH IN IOWA

This research describes and analyzes the implementation of comparable worth legislation in Iowa and focuses on two aspects of the issue: implementatlon of the job evaluation study mandated by the law, and implementation of the classification and compensation systems which resulted from the study. The paper argues that the General Assembly involved itself too directly and too long in the implementation process which led to confrontation with the executive branch and numerous problems in the implementation of comparable worth legislation.     

THE CASE OF COMPARABLE WORTH IN WASHINGTON STATE

Twelve years after its precedent-setting comparable worth study, Washington State has approved an agreement guaranteeing implementation of its comparable worth system by 1993. A history is presented of state actions on comparable worth. The causes for the slow course of policy formation and implementation are seen to lie with the following: being the first to conduct a study, taking too long to act, the changes in persons in key positions, the state economy, attitudes towards state workers, lack of focus of responsibility, and denial that sex-based differences in wages are the bases for Comparable worth adjustments.     

INITIATING A COMPARABLE WORTH WAGE POLICY IN MINNESOTA: NOTES FROM THE FIELD

As of January 1986, Minnesota has progressed farther than any other state in implementing acomparable worth (pay equity) wage policy, with two laws requiring pay equity, one covering state employees and a second covering employees of all types of jurisdictions. This article presents a discussion of Minnesota's importance as a case study, a definition of comparable worth, the history and politics o f pay equity policy in Minnesota, and an analysis of Minnesota's role in a national campaign to change wage policy. The article shows that implementation has been more straight-forward in state government than for the 1,583 local jurisdictions, many of which had less-developed personnel systems than did the state. The passage of the local pay equity law ushered in a new stage in this policy, where the issue Is no longer controlled by a small number of legislators, bureaucrats, and lobbyists.     

WOMEN, LABOR MARKETS. AND COMPARABLE WORTH

This article reviews various theories about labor markets in the United States and traces the arguments that accompany each theory concerning why women earn less than men. To test some of these arguments, the paper uses aggregate statistics on the sex composition of occupations and industries during the decade 1970–1980 t o identify trends. Findings show that the sex segregation of occupations decreased slightly while the sex segregation of industries increased. The earnings differential between men and women remained substantially the same. The paper offers an explanation using labor market theories for these empirical findings and, in light of this explanation, assesses the implications for the effectiveness of comparable worth policies.     

COMPARABLE WORTH IN STATE GOVERNMENT; TRENDS AND ISSUES

Comparable worth continues to be a controversial issue both in the private and public sector, but particularly in state government. Between 1981 and 1985, a t least 38 states entertained the comparable worth issue at some level. Based on three surveys conducted in 1984 and 1985, this study found that the extent o f states' comparable worth activities, when measured by the introduction of comparable worth bills, tends to vary depending upon the states' geographical location, party line-ups in the legislatures, unionization of state employees, and the states' votes on the Equal Rights Amendment. The study also identifies a few issues in implementing comparable worth in state government–such as job evaluation, and costs of comparable worth.     

POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIO-ECONOMICS*

Avariety of efforts are currently underway to develop alternatives to the neoclassical paradigm and neoclassical analysis of economic behavior. Here, the author seeks not to argue which approach is most productive, but to demonstrate the useful policy implications of adding key noneconomic (so- cial, psychological and political) variables to a paradigm that attempts to model economic behavior. This co-deterministic paradigm is called socio- economics. The article discusses the different and often insightful policy analysis that results from employing a socio-economic set of variables in four major areas: (1) allowing for shifting preferences; (2) including institu- tional contexts and influences within which individual transactions take place; (3) recognizing the effects of political as well as economic power differences; and (4) combining macro and structural policies.     

FROM SOCIAL DOCTRINE TO IMPLEMENTATION: AGENDA SETTING IN COMPARABLE WORTH

Comparable worth is a policy issue with twofaces. It is both a social doctrine proposing equal pay for work of comparable value and a methodology in personnel administration, called "objective job evaluation," that introduces new evaluative criteria to assess job worth. It has achieved policy status on the subnational level through the use of multiple agenda setting and implementation strategies by coalitions of women's advocacy groups and unions. The shifting use of comparable worth as a social doctrine or as a methodology to assess jobs has varied with the distribution of power resources of the sponsors and the receptiveness of the policy setting. The paper explores how comparable worth developed as a general policy issue on the subnational level. It offers a policy framework to interpret i t s transformation into policies and programs and assesses i t s probable impact on personnel administration.     

ELECTRICITY TARIFFS: SOCIAL POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Abstract: The issue of equity in the provision of public utilities is one which has been the subject of a number of Australian studies over the past ten years. In particular, the obvious inequities in pricing between different classes of electricity consumers have attracted attention. Evidence that these inequities exist not only between, but also within, consumer classes was found in a survey of Brisbane residential electricity consumers. Significantly higher rates per kilowatt hour are paid by lower income consumers and the proportion of income spent on electricity is higher than that spent by the upper income households surveyed.
These inequities have important implications in the development of social policies, particularly those directed at the aged who, in many cases, rely on a low fixed income in the form of the old age pension. So far, in Australia, only the Victorian state government has approached this issue in any detail as a part of its Social Justice Strategy despite the fact that similar inequities in the provision of electricity to household consumers exist in all states.     

IMPLEMENTING COMPARABLE WORTH IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: THEORY AND PRACTICE AT THE STATE AND LOCAL LEVEL

This paper defines comparable worth as part of the pay equity movement, given an overview of the reasons for its development in the 1980s.and identifies objections to its implementation. It also articulates the political and implementation challenges comparable worth presents and specifies the purpose of this special symposium.     

FACTORS INFLUENCING LEGISLATORS'USE OF POLICY INFORMATION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PROMOTING GREATER USE

Despite a tremendous growth in the volume of policy analysis in the past decade, recent research indicates governmental decisionmakers make little direct use of such research; at best, policy-oriented research alters a decisionmaker's conceptualization of the policy problem over the long term. Previous efforts to explain policymakers'limited use of policy research have generally not considered the opportunities and constraints presented by specific decisionmaking contexts. To a large extent, the research utilization literature has focused on attitudinal and demographic characteristics of decisionmakers and has adopted as a central focus the "two-communities" theory which asserts that frequent, direct use of policy research by policymakers is unlikely because of the competing worldview and belief systems of policy researchers and policymakers. While the two-communities theory may partially explain the limited use of policy research, it ignores the institutional incentives motivating decisionmakers. More specifically, this earlier research does not consider the different motivations of policymakers and their relative impact on use of policy information. To expand the explanation of decisionmakers'use of policy information, I postulate a model of legislators'use of policy information that includes four types of factors that influence legislators'propensity to use policy information. These factors-worldview and attitude toward social science, perception of the way policy issues are considered in the legislature, perception of the legislative structure, and legislative orientations-combine two-communities type of independent variables and perceptions of the legislative environment. In this way, policymakers'use of policy information can be examined more realistically and comprehensively.     

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC POLICY: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

Increasingly, the nations of the world are becoming more interdependent among themselves. This is true not only in an economic sense, but in a political sense as well. The field of public administration has become internationalized, presenting a new challenge to both teachers and students of the discipline. The article argues that special attention should be given to teaching students how to manage policy interdependency. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary approach is advocated as a method of broadening students' perspectives in public administration. In concluding the article, the author offers several recommendations for improving public administration programs.     

INFORMING WILDERNESS POLICY: THE DISTRIBUTIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF WILDERNESS CONSERVATION1

Abstract: Over the last two decades wilderness conservation has resurfaced to become one of the most contentious issues currently on the public agenda. The "politics" of wilderness preservation has been extensively reported in the media, but academic analysis has been on a superficial level and usually by the supporters of "conservation". This analysis has not proved particularly helpful for policy practitioners in this field.     

THE CHANGING CONTEXT OF ACADEMIC SCIENCE: UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY RELATIONS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY AND THE PUBLIC POLICY IMPLICATIONS

The issue of university-industry relations in the field of biotechnology illustrates the changing context of academic science. Research has become an organizational enterprise and no longer can be seen as simply the accumulation of individual efforts. This development complicates the normative context of academic science and in so doing introduces important policy questions, especially regarding interaction between industry and universities. Funding, faculty conflict of Interest, and the ownership of intellectual property resulting from research are policy issues which are analyzed in the context of some of the recent organizational changes in the performance of academic research.     

MANUFACTURING FIRMS' VIEWS OF GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY AND COMMITMENT TO SITE: IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS RETENTION POLICY

Relationships between a variety of firm characteristics and perceptions of government are investigated. Then views about government are considered in connection with firms' commitment to their present location. One finding that is well supported is that taxes and regulations (at least for this sample and within this region) are a source of considerable dissatisfaction. Satisfaction with government services does not come near "offsetting" the displeasure with taxes and regulations. Larger firms are more likely to have unfavorable perceptions of government constraints, but more likely to have favorable views about government services. There is no evidence from this data that high tech firms differ significantly from other firms in their views about government. In regards to implications for business retention, the findings support the notion that state governments seeking to market their state to businesses located elsewhere might turn a greater proportion of attention to businesses currently residing in the state.     

INTENDED AND UNINTENDED EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON POVERTY: WHAT RESEARCH TELLS US AND IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY

During the mid‐1960s, the United States adopted a series of cash and in‐kind transfer programs, as well as human capital investment strategies, as part of the War on Poverty. A number of other programs were first proposed as part of this “war” but were not implemented until the mid‐1970s. These programs had noble goals: to increase incomes at the bottom of the income distribution, reduce poverty, and improve nutrition, heath, and human capital. However, various features of the programs also had the potential to produce unintended consequences: for example, means‐tested programs can discourage work. In this paper, we comprehensively evaluate the main War on Poverty programs that were aimed at the low‐income nonelderly population along with several follow‐on programs. We focus on both intended and unintended consequences, drawing on the most compelling causal evidence. We conclude with a series of lessons learned and questions that are outstanding.