Industrial Relations Section

Director

Cecilia E. Rouse, Economics, Woodrow Wilson School

Executive Committee

Orley C. Ashenfelter, Economics

Henry S. Farber, Economics

Alan B. Krueger, Economics, Woodrow Wilson School

Cecilia E. Rouse, Economics, Woodrow Wilson School

Howard F. Taylor, Sociology

Associated Faculty

Harvey S. Rosen, Economics

Jesse Rothstein, Economics, Woodrow Wilson School

 

The Industrial Relations Section was established in 1922 through the keen interest of Clarence J. Hicks in instruction and research in industrial relations, and through the generosity of John D. Rockefeller Jr. From 1922 to 1930, Mr. Rockefeller’s gifts permitted the section to develop steadily, and in 1930 he provided $300,000 as a permanent endowment of its activities. Later this endowment was supplemented by two gifts of $60,000 each from John D. Rockefeller III of the Class of 1929, and by gifts from 83 companies and eight unions. The endowment is now valued at more than $10 million. The section is located in Firestone Library in space provided through the generosity of the Class of 1926.

The section has three principal functions. First, as a research bureau, it has, since 1925, published numerous reports and annotated bibliographies, including books and briefer studies. Its current research interests include aspects of unemployment and racial discrimination, the economics of labor supply and retirement, education and school quality, the effects on minimum wage, industrial relations and product quality, artists’ and musicians’ labor markets, and labor turnover and job duration.

Second, the section functions as a reference library in industrial relations, collecting books, periodicals, pamphlets, reports, and documents concerning the relations of employers, employees, and government both in this country and abroad. The library resources of the section now include more than 100,000 cataloged items.

Finally, the section cooperates in instruction by offering its assistance in research to individual undergraduate and graduate students. It also sponsors a research seminar that meets frequently during the academic year, to which interested graduate students and faculty members are invited.