🚨🚨Revised paper 🚨🚨 The Balance of Power in Franchising w/@ulrichatz.org, Blake Eliason, @mikelipsitz.bsky.social, @pnorlander.bsky.social, & @stpinto.bsky.social. We built the 1st comprehensive panel dataset of franchise contract terms: 46,000 documents, 4,500 chains, 20+ provisions, 2009-2024. /1

📦 I've released an *alpha* version of `wrds`, an R package that simplifies access to Wharton Research Data Services. 🔗 https://github.com/statzhero/wrds This is an alpha release. I'd appreciate feedback on the API design, missing features, or bugs. Open an issue on GitHub or comment here.

"[I]f disciplines move proactively, they can dramatize their central role, and show that our campuses are not just lovely places to scribble in blue books but sites where students discover things that aren’t yet contained in any model." ♥️ Approach AI with curiosity and a little wonder, not dread.

6. Trustworthy economic data are a critical public good. Eroding trust in government statistics erodes their value, leaving the U.S. economy less informed and more vulnerable. -END 🧵-

5. Impaired BLS data cannot be reliably compensated for in the private sector. As @pnorlander.bsky.social writes, innovative approaches exist, but private data relies on public reports for substantiation, meaning even proprietary numbers are tied to BLS reporting. equitablegrowth.org/federal-data...

two men were taken at a bakery by armed and masked federal agents in Cicero, Illinois this morning while having coffee before work. we were there moments later. Trump says they’re going after the “worst of the worst” around Chicago. that’s not what we saw. youtu.be/EkCcsaFdpsw?...

"Making reliable data accessible in a timely manner to inform decision-making is foundational for economic growth and equity in the United States." More from #EGgrantee @pnorlander.bsky.social on what users can do to protect and improve federal data collection:

Academics working in partnership with a community of data users can lead to better public data. While defending federal statistical agencies, it's time to think about how to lower costs, speed development, etc. New column & working paper working with online job ad data from National Labor Exchange.

Firms' potential rents from H-1Bs are ~40% of the worth. Prevailing wage regulations and fees shrink that. Policies that redistribute from the firm to the worker or toward public purposes (workforce development, e.g.) can improve the program. A $100k fee is absurd. See wol.iza.org/articles/do-...

A worker was killed. Dozens detained. Dr. Jonathan Caravello, A CSU faculty member and US citizen, was brutalized & disappeared by ICE for observing. Trump’s ICE thugs are escalating terror in our communities. Release them ALL. seiuca.org/press-releas...

The UFW can confirm farm workers were critically injured yesterday during chaotic raids in Ventura County, CA. Other workers, including US citizens, remain unaccounted for. UFW staff is on the ground supporting impacted families. Our full statement below. ⬇️ 1/

“If the whole purpose of this program is to hire the best of the best, then why aren’t we seeing higher wages?” our Susan Houseman asks in @bloomberg.com

The Upjohn Institute is leading the American Job Quality Survey, the most comprehensive look at what makes a job good – pay, benefits schedules and more – with @gallup.com, Jobs for the Future, and the Families & Workers Fund. First findings spotlight the prevalence of low-quality work schedules.

Universities are the best at attraction and selection of foreign talent - recruitment is aligned with R&D and patenting, as my work (and work by Jennifer Hunt) has shown. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Universities are the best at attraction and selection of foreign talent - recruitment is aligned with R&D and patenting, as my work (and work by Jennifer Hunt) has shown. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

We're hiring a postdoc in labor economics at IAB Nuremberg! Join @ineshelmecon.bsky.social, @jnimczik.bsky.social & me on a project about gig work. 🗓️ Start: 1 Oct 25 💶 Salary ≥ €5200/month
 🌱 Possibility to apply for tenure track program Apply here until 17 June: econjobmarket.org/positions/11...

Virtual registration is still open for the "Minimum Wages & Monopsony Power" conference! Featuring an all-star lineup of labor economists, this one-day event also honors career of Dr. Michael Reich. 📅 June 6, 2025 | 8am - 5pm 🔗 Register today: irle.berkeley.edu/events/minim...

Data on firm relocations reveal that nearly all wage differences between cities stem from the spatial sorting of workers and firms; Location-specific factors explain only 2–5 percent, from Pauline Carry, Benny Kleinman, and Elio Nimier-David https://www.nber.org/papers/w33779

Virtual LERA panel on "Free Speech at Work" a critical topic with speakers: - Wilma Liebman, former NLRB chair & Dep Dir FMCS - Craig Becker, @aflcio.org Senior Counsel & former NLRB member, - Cynthia Estlund, NYU Law Prof. lerachapter.org/vlera/events...

Do you work on topics related to employment and labor relations? Submit an individual paper or panel to LERA@ASSA 2026! LERA will be sponsoring a number of sessions, and they usually are well-attended. Submission deadline 3/15. #EconSky #EconConf

Can 'back to office' demands end telework in the federal gov't? OPM rule says n/a for workers covered by a CBA. Chris Erickson and I found that federal and unionized workers were more likely to work remote pre-pandemic. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

This article by Pia Orrenius and me seems relevant again. We examine the fallout from meatpacking & poultry processing raids during the Bush admin, a precursor to the Trump raids in 2019 and the future (maybe) doi.org/10.1257/pand...

Looking forward to new research on #immigration, the #H1B visa, and more at #ASSA2025. #EconConf www.aeaweb.org/conference/2.... bsky.app/profile/pnor...

Good time to share some research on the #h1b program? #econsky 1. Firms with ex-politicians on the board increased barriers to hiring foreign workers after Trump's 2017 inauguration. Could it be because politically-connected execs pay more attention to tweets? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Interested in the effect of President Trump's 2016 election on foreign worker recruitment? How political connections on the board heighten firm responsiveness to change in the political environment? New paper co-authored with Professor Steve Sauerwald. #econsky journals.sagepub.com/share/RJIMCA...

Really interesting new paper on franchises, which finds (among other fascinating results!) that: 1) power has shifted over the past 15 years from franchisees to the franchisor (corporation) 2) lower franchisee power is associated with lower front-line worker wages

New working paper: "The Balance of Power in Franchising," joint with @ulrich.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy, Pete Norlander, @stpinto.bsky.social, and newly-minted econ RA Blake Eliason. marshallsteinbaum.org/wp-content/u... #econsky /1