Morris Kleiner

Areas of Expertise

Public policies on work and pay; role of labor unions in democratic societies; human resource policies and organizational performance

Biography

Morris M. Kleiner is the AFL-CIO chair of labor policy and professor at the Humphrey School. He also teaches at the University's Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies. His research interests include the analysis of institutions in the labor market, the influence of labor-management policies on organizations, and the role of labor unions in democratic societies. He has published extensively in the top academic journals in labor economics and industrial relations, and is the author, co-author, or coeditor of six books. Kleiner is a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has been a Professor at the University of Kansas, an associate in employment policy with the Brookings Institution, a visiting scholar in the Harvard University economics department, a visiting researcher in the Industrial Relations Section at Princeton University, a visiting scholar at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, and a research fellow at the London School of Economics. He is currently also serving as a Visiting Scholar in the economic research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.  He received a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois.

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Selected Writings

• Analyzing the Extent and Influence of Occupational Licensing on the Labor Market, with Alan B. Krueger, forthcoming in the Journal of Labor Economics

• Organizational and Individual Learning and Forgetting, with Nickelsburg, Jerry; and Pilarski, Adam (2012), Industrial & Labor Relations Review, January, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 68-81.

• Can A Workplace Have An Attitude Problem? Workplace Effects on Employee Attitudes and Organizational Performance with Ann Bartel, Richard B. Freeman, and Casey Ichniowski, in Labour Economics, 2011, VOL.18(2011), PP. 411-423

• Adoption and Termination of Employee Involvement Programs with Wei Chi and Richard B. Freeman, Labour, Vol. 25 No. 1. 2011, pp. 45-62. 2011.

• The Regulation of Occupations with Alex Bryson, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.48, No. 4 December 2010.

• The Prevalence and Effects of Occupational Licensing with Alan B. Krueger, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol.48:No. 4 December 2010.

• Do Industrial Relations Institutions Influence Foreign Direct Investment? Evidence from OECD Nations with Hwikwon Ham, Industrial Relations, Vol. 46, No. 2, April 2007.

• Governing the Global Workplace with Mario F. Bognanno and John W. Budd, Industrial Relations, Vol. 46, No. 2, April 2007.

• The Last American Shoe Manufacturers: Decreasing Productivity and Increasing Profits in the Shift From Piece Rates to Continuous Flow Production with Richard B. Freeman, Industrial Relations, Vol. 44, No., April 2005, pp. 307-330.

• How Industrial Relations Affect Plant Performance: The Case of Commercial Aircraft Manufacturing with J. Leonard and A. Pilarski, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 55, No. 2, January 2002, pp. 195-218.

• Intensity of Management Resistance: Understanding the Decline of Unionization in the Private Sector, Journal of Labor Research, Vol 22, No. 3, Summer 2001, pp. 519- 540.

• Occupational Licensing, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 14, No.4, November, 2000, pp. 189-202.

• Does Regulation Affect Economic Outcomes? The Case of Dentistry, with R. Kudrle, Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 63, No. 2, October 2000, pp. 547-582.

• Who Benefits Most From Employee Involvement: Firms or Workers?, with R. B. Freeman, American Economic Review, Vol. 90 No. 2, May 2000, pp. 219-223.

Courses Taught

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For syllabi for the current or upcoming semester, please visit the University of Minnesota's Course Guide and look for the syllabus icon. If the syllabus is not there, contact the instructor directly. Syllabi are available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact Jeremy Gordon at gord0215@umn.edu or 612-624-7095 for assistance.

Fall 2012

• PA 8081: Regulating Labor: The Case for Occupational Licensing
• PA 8390: Research Methods in Public Policy

Spring 2013

• PA 5033: Multivariate Techniques
• PA 5431: Public Policies on Work and Pay

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