Industrial Relations Section in Historical Perspective: 1922–2015
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY’S INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SECTION IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: 1922–2015 LAWRENCE DAMIAN ROBINSON 1 COVER: An image of U.S. Steel Corporation is part of a collection of photos entitled “America at Work” (presented to the Industrial Relations Section upon the opening of Firestone Library in 1948-49). Copyright © 2016 by the Industrial Relations Section ISBN 0-9773544-9-0 Designed by Laurel Masten Cantor, University creative director, Office of Communications, Princeton University Edited by Beth Chute 2 CONTENTS Forewords ..........................................................................................5 Author’s Preface .................................................................................9 Introduction ..................................................................................... 13 Foundations ..................................................................................... 17 From the Roaring ’20s to the New Deal Economy ........................... 41 The War Years .................................................................................69 J. Douglas Brown ............................................................................ 97 The Postwar Decades: From “Happy Days” to Revolution ............................................................................. 107 The 1980s and Beyond, or Back to the Future .................................141 Princeton University’s Industrial Relations Section in Historical Perspective ............................................................ 179 Bibliography .................................................................................. 195 Faculty Biographies .......................................................................203 Staff, Visiting Professors, Directors, Dissertation Advisers, Faculty Associates, and Research Associates ............................................................ 215 Current Students, Current Post-docs, and Alumni .........................229 Institutional Affiliations ................................................................237 3 4 FOREWORD — FROM HENRY S. FARBER We began work on this history of the Industrial Relations Section early in 2012 in order for its publication to be part of the celebration of our 90th anniversary during academic year 2012-2013. That we are now only pub- lishing this work in the second half of 2015 is the result of a combination of factors. First, writing the history of the section proved to be a much more involved process than we had anticipated. Second, two important changes to our faculty contributed to the delay: Cecilia Rouse was selected to serve as Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School beginning September 1, 2012 and David S. Lee, the Director of the section through the 2012-2013 academic year, was named Provost of Princeton University, July 1, 2013. These appointments continue a long tradition, described in this history, of members of the Industrial Relations Section serving in leadership positions within the University. We have endeavored to revise our original text to reflect the changes that have occurred during the past two years. In addition to the faculty changes above, we have welcomed Will Dobbie as an Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Affairs. Will holds a joint appointment in the Department of Economics and the Woodrow Wilson School. We were also pleased to welcome Alan Krueger back from Washington, where he served as Chairman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and was a Member of the Cabinet from November 2011 to August 2013. As well as these changes to our faculty, we reactivated the Clarence J. Hicks Memorial Fellowship in Industrial Relations and added the William G. Bowen Award for the Outstanding Book on Labor and Public Policy. — HENRY S. FARBER, DIRECTOR AUGUST 2015 5 6 FOREWORD — FROM DAVID S. LEE The 2012-2013 academic year coincides with the 90th anniversary of the Princeton Industrial Relations Section’s founding. This is both a signifi- cant milestone and an opportunity to reflect on the section’s evolution as a unique center for research, teaching, and public policy engagement on labor issues as it enters its 10th decade. It is also an opportunity to honor the many talented, dedicated scholars and professionals who have served in the section over the years and advanced the field of labor economics in such meaningful ways. The Industrial Relations Section was founded in 1922 as an unbiased clearinghouse for information on employment policies and practices among U.S. corporations. It quickly became known for its intellectual rigor, doc- trinal neutrality, and clear analysis of issues from the management, labor, and government perspectives. This reputation—which endures today— allowed it to play an influential part in many of the most important labor developments of the twentieth century. The section’s role in public poli- cymaking stretches from Doug Brown’s work for Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt and Orley Ashenfelter’s groundbreaking tenure as Director of Evaluation at the Department of Labor, to the presence of several section faculty—Alan Krueger, Alexandre Mas, and Cecilia Rouse—in various senior policy roles in both the Clinton and Obama Administrations. Over time, both technological and methodological advancements have changed the daily activities of the Industrial Relations Section. Neverthe- less, certain themes run throughout its history to the present day and are characteristic of its values. These include the application of its appreciation and knowledge of various institutions and their perspectives, to a detailed understanding of how the world of economics and labor markets works, as well as the positive influence of the section’s physical environment. Its lab-like setting fosters the development of highly effective, enduring aca- demic interactions and an exchange of ideas and perspectives like those the section was founded to promote. 7 FOREWORD Drawing on historical and contemporary sources and the firsthand in- sights of many individuals who have helped to shape Princeton University’s Industrial Relations Section in recent decades, author Damian Robinson puts the section and its academic significance into a historical perspective that is engaging and informative. It is thus with the present volume that the section marks its 90th anniversary, and looks forward to its approaching centennial with deep gratitude to all those who have contributed to its rich, fruitful, and storied past. — DAVID S. LEE, DIRECTOR DECEMBER 2012 8 AUTHOR’S PREFACE When I was first asked to consider writing a history of Princeton Universi- ty’s Industrial Relations Section, my immediate reaction was to be daunted by the task. As I saw it, there were three principal challenges I would have to overcome. First, while my background encompassed more than a pass- ing understanding of finance and economics, I knew relatively little about labor economics per se, and even less about the field of industrial relations. I would therefore need to do a significant amount of research in a relatively short space of time in order to familiarize myself enough with the subject just to begin an earnest inquiry into the section’s history. Second, I already had some competition, so to speak. A history of the Industrial Relations Section had previously been produced (principally by one of its faculty associates, the late Richard Lester) in the mid-1980s. That brochure, which had rendered a summary account of many of the section’s activities from 1922 to 1985, was written in what can perhaps best be described as a taxonomic fashion; and while it contained a wealth of information that turned out to be enormously helpful—and which I have certainly incorporated into my own version of the section’s history—my goal was to produce a very different kind of document. I wanted, in fact, to write something that would be of interest to both labor economists and to a more general readership of Princeton faculty, staff, students, and alumni with a wide range of interests—in effect, something that would put the section’s history in the context of the larger University, and of the national community in which it exists. And, third, I had a not-so-small prejudice to overcome. In the absence of any real familiarity with the subject, I initially imagined the 90-year-old Industrial Relations Section to be something of a musty, ivory-tower relic of a bygone era, with little relevance to modern-day life. As I soon learned, however, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, after research- ing the subject in a fair amount of depth, I became convinced that, in the history of American education, there are relatively few fields of study—and 9 AUTHOR’S PREfaCE even fewer distinct academic units—that can trace their very origins to questions of immediate and practical existential significance to some of the major structural elements of our society. The field of industrial relations, along with its successor discipline of labor economics, and Princeton Uni- versity’s Industrial Relations Section are among them. Born of the deeply divisive labor strife of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the field of industrial relations has had an enormous and funda- mental impact—on areas from the organized labor movement, to contem- porary management and human resources practices, to the legislation be- hind some of our most basic social protections like Social Security—which reverberates throughout our society and our economy today. And, as one of the firstborn