Piece-rate Workers Research Articles

Longitudinal Renal Function Degradation Among Florida Agricultural Workers.

This longitudinal study evaluated renal function and acute kidney injury (AKI) over time in US agricultural workers. We followed Florida agricultural workers from January 2020 to August 2022, collecting blood and urine preworkday and postworkday during five visits. Preworkday estimated glomerular filtration rate function in all participants was lower in summers but relatively consistent over time. In participants who worked almost exclusively in fernery operations (piece-rate compensation), we observed a high incidence of postworkday AKI in 2020 (21%) that increased to 43% by the end of the study. In comparison, 11% of nursery workers (hourly compensation) had AKI, and this rate was fairly stable. AKI risk over time differs according to the type of agricultural work. Piece rate workers who are incentivized to forgo rest breaks and hydration to earn higher wages demonstrate steadily increasing rates of AKI.

Practical cooling interventions for preventing heat strain in indoor factory workers in Thailand.

Occupational heat stress, exacerbated by factors such as climate change and insufficient cooling solutions, endangers the health and productivity of workers, especially in low-resource workplaces. To evaluate the effectiveness of two cooling strategies in reducing physiological strain and productivity of piece-rate workers over a 9-h work shift in a southern Thailand sawmill. In a crossover randomized control trial design, 12 (33 ± 7 y; 1.58 ± 0.05 m; 51 ± 9 kg; n = 5 females) medically screened sawmill workers were randomly allocated into three groups comprising an established phase change material vest (VEST), an on-site combination cooling oasis (OASIS) (i.e., hydration, cold towels, fans, water dousing), and no cooling (CON) across 3 consecutive workdays. Physiological strain was measured via core temperature telemetry and heart rate monitoring. Productivity was determined by counting the number of pallets of wood sorted, stacked, and stowed each day. Relative to CON, OASIS lowered core temperature by 0.25°C [95% confidence interval = 0.24, 0.25] and heart rate by 7 bpm [6, 9] bpm, compared to 0.17°C [0.17, 0.18] and 10 [9,12] bpm reductions with VEST. It was inconclusive whether productivity was statistically lower in OASIS compared to CON (mean difference [MD] = 2.5 [-0.2, 5.2]), and was not statistically different between VEST and CON (MD = 1.4 [-1.3, 4.1]). Both OASIS and VEST were effective in reducing physiological strain compared to no cooling. Their effect on productivity requires further investigation, as even small differences between interventions could lead to meaningful disparities in piece-rate worker earnings over time.

Impact of Hiring Contractual Workers on Sustainable Supply Chain in Exporting Textile of Pakistan

Textile industry is one of the major sources of revenue generation for Pakistan. For the last two decade this has been the key source of the inflow of foreign exchange through export of garments and textiles goods. Many global retailers and brands like Tesco, JC Penny, Wal-Mart, and Next etc. are sourcing their goods from Pakistan. These Retailers purchase garments and textile on some specific conditions such as cheap merchandising, quality standards and social and environmental compliance. In order to comply with social standards these multinational buyers enforce their vendors to follow the land law and their own code of conduct. The severity of issues varies from violation to violation. For example, nonpayment of overtime violations is taken as serious issues. In contrast, failure to pay legal benefits to labors as EOBI, group insurance and leaves are less threatening. Hiring contractual employment especially on piece rate is one of the core factors that lead to these non-compliances (NCs). A total of 60 unpublished social compliance onsite audit reports of textile and garment factories working with foreign buyers in Pakistan were analyzed. Chai-Square test applied to test the hypothesis. The result reflects that there is an association exists between hiring contractual piece rate workers, employment old age benefit, and group insurance and leaves violation. Current study may be helpful in exploring the major factors that may lead to overtime, employment old age benefit, group insurance and leaves violation. The findings may also help NGOs, government and global buyers to develop policies that provide better control over workers’ rights in developing countries like Pakistan for sustainable business growth.

Does Minimum Wage Increase Labor Productivity? Evidence from Piece Rate Workers

I examine worker effort as a potential margin of adjustment to a minimum wage hike using unique data on piece rate workers who perform a homogenous task and whose individual output is rigorously recorded. By employing a difference-in-differences strategy that exploits the increase in Florida’s minimum wage from $6.79 to $7.21 on January 1, 2009, and worker location on the pre-2009 productivity distribution, I provide evidence consistent with incumbent workers’ positive effort responses.

Health Information, Treatment, and Worker Productivity

Abstract Agricultural and other physically demanding sectors are important sources of growth in developing countries, but prevalent diseases such as malaria can adversely impact the productivity and labor supply of workers. We estimate the impact of malaria infection on worker earnings, labor supply, daily productivity, and task selection by using a phased-in design where we randomize the study week in which piece-rate workers at a large sugarcane plantation in Nigeria are offered malaria testing and treatment. Two estimation strategies indicate a significant and substantial intent to treat effect of the intervention. The program increases worker weekly earnings by 11%–13% over the weeks following the offer, depending on the reference period, estimated using a between-worker estimator that exploits the experimental design. A within-worker estimate provides similar but smaller estimates of 8%–10%. We identify different pathways through which this effect occurs. For workers who test positive for malaria, the treatment of illness principally increases labor supply, leading to higher earnings. For workers who test negative, the health information leads to increased earnings via augmented daily productivity. This productivity response arises, in part, from selection into higher return tasks within their job at the plantation. The results underline the importance of medical treatment but also of improved access to information about one's health status, as the absence of either leads workers to work less or choose lower return tasks when working.

Heat-related injuries in Australian workplaces: Perspectives from health and safety representatives

IntroductionHot weather poses occupational health and safety concerns for people working in hot environments. It is known that work-related injuries increase during hot weather, yet there is an incomplete understanding of the underlying factors. MethodsA national online survey was conducted in Australia among health and safety representatives (HSRs) to better understand factors contributing to heat-related injuries in workplaces. Risk factors and preventive measures associated with reported injuries were identified using log-poisson regression models. ResultsIn total, 222 HSRs completed the survey. Overall, 43% reported that injuries or incidents caused by hot/very humid weather occur sometimes or often in their workplace. Factors found to be associated with reported heat-related injuries included ‘the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE)’ which can hinder the loss of body heat, and ‘inadequate resources and facilities’. ‘Piece-rate workers’ and ‘new workers’ were identified as being at high risk. The most frequently adopted preventive measures for outdoor and indoor workers were the provision of PPE (despite some identified issues) and access to cool drinking water. HSRs reported that less injuries occurred in hot weather among outdoor workers if work was rescheduled to cooler times and shade was provided; and in indoor environments where there was adequate ventilation, heat sources were shielded and workers were able to self-pace. ConclusionOrganisational issues, workplace hazards, personal factors and preventive measures, are all determinants of heat-related injuries in Australian workplaces. Wider adoption of identified prevention measures could reduce the incidence of heat-related injuries in outdoor and indoor workplaces.

Does Minimum Wage Increase Labor Productivity? Evidence from Piece Rate Workers

We examine worker effort as a potential margin of adjustment to a minimum wage hike using unique data on piece rate workers who perform a homogenous task and whose individual output is rigorously recorded. By employing a difference-in-differences strategy that exploits the increase in Florida's minimum wage from $6.79 to $7.21 on January 1, 2009, and worker location on the pre-2009 productivity distribution, we provide evidence consistent with incumbent workers' positive effort responses.

The effect of wage subsidies on piece rate workers: Evidence from the Penny Per Pound program in Florida

This paper studies a fair trade program in which consumers provide a wage subsidy (bonus) to piece-rate tomato pickers. The total subsidy—determined by sales to participating buyers—is divided among workers based on their relative output: a worker who produces more gets a larger share of the bonus. Although seemingly mimicking the existing piece-rate pay scheme, the mechanism associated with the bonus payment is really a relative performance evaluation, as the size of total bonus is exogenous and invariant to workers' effort. Therefore, for a given sized subsidy, the combined total (or per worker average) utility gains would become the largest if the workers keep their efforts at the pre-program level. Empirical analysis shows that worker effort (and hence productivity) increases substantially in response to the program, suggesting that currently, workers' combined gains per dollar of subsidy are not being maximized.

Productivity in piece-rate labor markets: Evidence from rural Malawi

Piece-rate compensation is a common feature of developing country labor markets, but little is known about how piece-rate workers respond to incentives, or the tradeoffs that an employer faces when setting the terms of the contract. In a field experiment in rural Malawi, we hired casual day laborers at piece rates and collected detailed data on the quantity and quality of their output. Specifically, we use a simplified Becker-DeGroot-Marschak mechanism, which provides random variation in piece rates conditional on revealed reservation rates, to separately identify the effects of worker selection and incentives on output. We find a positive relationship between output quantity and the piece rate, and show that this is solely the result of the incentive effect, not selection. In addition, we randomized whether workers were subject to stringent quality monitoring. Monitoring led to higher quality output, at some cost to the quantity produced. However, workers do not demand higher compensation when monitored, and monitoring has no measurable effect on the quality of workers willing to work under a given piece rate. Together, the set of worker responses that we document lead the employer to prefer a contract that offers little surplus to the worker, consistent with an equilibrium in which workers have little bargaining power.

Do Minimum Wage Laws Affect People Who are Not Covered? Evidence from Documented, Undocumented, Hourly, and Piece Rate Workers in U.S. Agriculture

While a stated goal of minimum wage increases is to benefit low income workers, some employers are not obligated to provide at least minimum wages to all employees. U.S. farm employers comprise one of these groups. Employees of large farms and H2-A workers, (temporary non-immigrant workers lawfully admitted to perform temporary or seasonal agricultural services), are protected by minimum wage legislation, while other migrant workers, (especially those who are paid piece rate), are exempt. Furthermore, U.S. agriculture is characterized by a large percentage of illegal migrants, and workers who are illegal may or may not receive wages above minimum levels. This paper presents a case study, drawing from agriculture, that examines if and how minimum wage laws affect uncovered workers. Analysis examines wages and hours worked as functions of federal and state minimum wages, using data from a nationally and regionally representative survey of employed farm workers. Results suggest wage increases for both covered and uncovered workers, greatest gains to those who are formally covered, and gains not being at the expense of hours worked.

Poverty, Legal Status, and Pay Basis: The Case of U.S. Agriculture

U.S. farmworkers primarily are paid either on a piecerate or on a timerate basis. This article studies relationships among wage contracts, legal status, and poverty using a representative survey of employed farmworkers, which includes detailed information on legal status, including whether a worker is illegal. Results indicate that while piecerate workers earn more per hour on average, they work fewer hours and face greater poverty risk than their timerate counterparts. Furthermore, foreign‐born workers, especially those who are undocumented, are overrepresented in piecerate positions, and analysis shows that the effect of piecerate pay on poverty is positive and correlated with being foreign‐born.

The effect of pay-for-performance contracts on wages

I investigate the role played by learning and self-selection according to comparative advantage in the often reported result that piece rate workers (including commissions) earn more on average compared to other workers. With comparative advantage, the returns to skills differ across pay methods. I find that comparative advantage along with learning about worker skills seem to play a role for workers who are either at an early stage in their career or who are observed for the first time in a given job-match. For older workers, the return to skills is basically the same across pay methods.

Assessment of the Nutritional Impact of Agricultural Research: The Case of Mungbean in Pakistan

Evaluation of agricultural research often neglects consumption and nutrition aspects. Yet agricultural research can address micronutrient malnutrition by improving both quantity and quality of food intake. To briefly review the conceptual linkages between agriculture and nutrition, to estimate the strength of the relationship between iron intake and productivity outcomes, and to estimate the nutritional benefit of improved mungbean varieties in terms of net present value. This paper presents a methodology for assessing the nutritional impact of mungbean, and summarizes current impact evidence on the path from mungbean research to consumption. A consumption study was conducted among female piece-rate workers in Pakistan to analyze the impact of iron consumption on productivity, measured in wages. A two-stage least-squares analysis was used to estimate the elasticity of iron intake on wages. The results derived from this study were extrapolated to country level using secondary data sources. We found that anemia among women was widespread. Approximately two-thirds of women suffered from mild or severe anemia (Hb < 12 g/dL). We found the elasticity of bioavailable iron on productivity measured in wages was 0.056, and the marginal effect was 9.17 Pakistani rupees per additional mg of bioavailable iron consumed. Using the model results we estimated the impact of mungbean research on nutrition, in terms of productivity effects, and found it was substantial, ranging from US dollar 7.6 to 10.1 million cumulative present value (in 1995 US dollar at 5% discount rate). Agriculture certainly plays an important role in the reduction of malnutrition. Agricultural research has greatly contributed to the reduction of hunger and starvation by providing millions of hungry people with access to low-cost staple foods. Now, as the challenge shifts to the reduction of micronutrient deficiencies, more efforts must be directed toward crops high in micronutrients, such as pulses and vegetables.

Overtime Working, The Phillips Curve And The Wage Curve: British Engineering, 1926–66

This paper shows that wage–unemployment elasticities derived from estimated wage curves and Phillips curves may be critically dependent on the measurement of wages. Incorporating hourly wage earnings that include the influence of overtime payments can lead to seriously distorted results. Meaningful elasticities are obtained only if hourly standard wages form the basis of analysis. Work is based on a unique data set describing two homogeneous blue–collar occupational groups—skilled fitters and unskilled labourers—in the British engineering industry. Each group is also divided into timeworkers and piece–rate workers. Data are aggregated into a panel of 28 local labour markets and cover the highly contrasting periods 1928–38 and 1954–66.

Hours and Wages in the Depression: British Engineering, 1926-1938

On their intensive margins, firms in the British engineering industry adjusted to the severe falls in demand during the 1930s Depression by cutting hours of work. This provided an important means of reducing labour input and marginal labour costs, through movements from overtime to short-time schedules. Nominal wages dropped relatively modestly while real wages continued to rise throughout the trough years of the recession. Empirical work is based on cell data from a panel of 28 local labour markets for the period 1926-38. The data dichotomise between skilled fitters and unskilled labourers and between time-rate and piece-rate workers. The findings have interesting implications for Phillips curve and wage curve studies.

Methods of Pay and Earnings: A Longitudinal Analysis

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1988–90), the author investigates the relationship between methods of pay, including piece rates and bonuses, and the level and variance of wages. Among men, piece rate workers earned a premium compared to other workers, but the evidence on bonuses is mixed. The author finds evidence that female piece rate workers earned more than other female workers once a control variable for the presence of dependents is interacted with the piece rate variable. With controls for the wage effects of schooling and experience, unobserved worker productivity is found to have accounted for most of the wage variance among both male and female piece rate workers; wage variance among workers not having explicit pay for performance schemes, in contrast, was predominantly due to other factors.

An Experimental Examination of Labor Supply and Work Intensities

Estimated negative substitution effects on work hours question the empirical validity of the classical labor supply model. Estimates are reconciled by allowing a dual choice of hours and effort for piecerate workers. In such a model, these negative substitution effects result from substituting on- and off-the-job leisure. We test our model using controlled experimentation on human subjects. These experiments, while not naturally occurring environments, represent real economic choices and can generate data unavailable elsewhere (e.g., effort data). The results support our model, and they have implications both for labor management and for empirical research focusing only on the hours choice. The classical static model of the labor-leisure choice offers positive compensated wage effects on hours of work as its main testable implication. Previous attempts to test this hypothesis with field data have cast doubt on the empirical validity of the static labor supply model due to the frequency of negative estimated compensated wage elasticities. A limitation of the model is that it views the choice of hours of work as the only

"Proletarianizing" Lives: Researching Careers

One definition of the of the is that the professional loses over policy and value objectives in his or her work (Derber 1982b:17). Proletarianization is normally explained as resulting from workplace labor process control (ibid., p. 31). A compatible, but quite different, explanation relates proletarianization to changes in the social practices and ideological orientations of professional careers. In this research note, I present this different explanation and suggest avenues for empirical research. Changing labor process control subjects not to the traditional forms of industrial regimentation and constraint but to a system of control that allows for relative worker autonomy (ibid., p. 31). In short, are becoming like Burawoy's piece-rate workers, who exercise power and (Burawoy 1979:94), but do so in a process defines both the conditions of choice and the limits of [their] managerial discretion (ibid., p. 199). These changes are said to result from changing employment patterns, evidenced by declining rates of self-employment among and growing rates of employment in heteronomous organizations (Derber 1982a:3; Oppenheimer 1973). The difficulty with this explanation is that have always been sellers of labor power; Cravath never gave it away for free. As Freidson famously showed, employment, not self-employment, is the characteristic position of professionals (Freidson 1986:xii; chap. 6). As he emphasized, never worked as they please (ibid., p. 144). Furthermore, in many situations, clients have greater claims to control than professional practices have institutionalized (Rosenthal 1974; Sarat & Felstiner 1995). Changing labor process controls may bridge this gap, without resuiting in deprofessionalization, let alone proletarianization. Changing employment patterns, however, also have important effects on the life chances of professionals. Along with changing social and cultural norms, employment opportunities may be rearranging the structure and aspirations of professional careers (cf. Calhoun 1965). Changing careers may help explain how exercise or do not exercise over policy and value objectives (Derber 1982b:17) in their work. Consider two associates, one at a large corporate law firm and one at an office of a bureaucratized mass-market seller of legal services. Both work long hours, do not select the clients they serve, have little control over what they work on, must have their work approved by a hierarchy of colleagues, and often fill in the blanks in documents largely produced by others. Both can be described as cogs in a large division of labor, within both the firm and society. Although their compensation and status differ, neither earns under the poverty level. They both work at firms organized by the commercialization of the legal Both associates are subject to labor process control. Both are hard-working professionals. Yet there is a significant difference, is there not? One difference is in their careers. The corporate law firm associate can dream of a career that leads to a professional ideal, symbolized by an understanding of partnership. Promotion for the other, if possible, is only into management ranks, not to a different relation of control over legal work. For this reason, this associate might be described as deprofessionalized. Under changed market and cultural conditions, lawyers may be losing their ability to have careers of certain kinds, which is not only or primarily related to heteronomous employment. At private law firms there are different tiers of associates and part ners. Consider lawyers who work at a private law firm on a renew able yearly contract, with no expectation of advancement in the firm. If they stay with this position, they will never progress through the sequence of stages by which one matures within the profession. …

Firm‐Specific Seniority and Wages

This article studies the relationship between seniority and wages. Micro data with more than one observation from each firm are utilized to single out the seniority effect on wages arising within firms from the total seniority wage effect. The results show that the seniority effect arises within firms, but do not support the human capital explanation of the seniority wage profile. Employees with high levels of firm‐specific on‐the‐job training requirements have less steep wage profiles. The results give some support to the theory of delayed compensation as piece rate workers have negligible returns to seniority.

Piece-Rates, Principal-Agent Models, and Productivity Profiles: Parametric and Semi-Parametric Evidence from Payroll Records

This paper uses data on the wages received by piece-rate workers to estimate worker productivity profiles. The data were collected from the payroll records of a British Columbia copper mine. The advantage of these data is the close link between observed wages and worker productivity. An explicit model is used to control for worker effort as a function of observable worker characteristics and the parameters of the compensation system. The model implies a censored wage distribution, the parameters of which can be estimated using well-known econometric techniques. Semi-parametric estimation allows for the relaxation of the distributional assumptions of the model. Results suggest that while productivity profiles were increasing concave functions of tenure, they were also very flat. I relate these results to historical arguments on the skill-saving nature of technological change in the mining industry at the end of the nineteenth century.