This report examines Amazon.com's standing as a socially accountable corporate citizen, with close attention to the impact of Amazon's logistics operations on the public balance sheet in the four-county Los Angeles region. The Los Angeles region purchased an estimated $7.2 billion in goods from...

The informal economy produces legal goods and services that are not effectively regulated. Such activities can give rise to abuses by employers who fail to respect basic labor, safety, immigration, and tax laws, leaving workers without rights. By definition the informal economy is hidden...

Los Angeles is a major net importer of water and relies on sources several hundred miles away in Northern California and Colorado for two-thirds of its supply. The ecosystems of these source regions are significantly impacted by decades of diverting water for agricultural, industrial and...

Welfare reform has increased labor force participation among welfare parents. But is work leading to self-sufficiency or another cycle of defeat for these workers? The answer is that most welfare workers remain trapped in the cage of poverty.The basic premise of the work-first model that...

Given the apparent lack of new jobs created for the region's unemployed aerospace workers, this survey was designed to investigate the progress and strategies of high technology firms confronting precipitously declining defense sales. Defense conversion programs that bring aerospace technologies...

Recent welfare reform legislation mandates that aid recipients become employed and economically self-sufficient. The allowable interval of continuous assistance is limited to 24 months for current recipients and 18 months for new recipients, with a lifetime limit of five years on welfare. At...

The civil unrest of 1992 can be understood as a manifestation of rage over economic deprivation and blighted hopes. At the time of the April 1992 civil unrest, Los Angeles County was in its second year of what proved to be its most severe recession since the Great Depression. The greatest...

The most salient fact about the South Bay economy is the importance of high technology manufacturing and services. The area's high technology sector is a tapestry of industries linked to space systems, aeronautical services, and aviation; its output includes research and development services as...

An analysis of California's construction industry found that 143,900 construction workers were employed in the informal economy in 2011. This was comprised of 104,100 construction workers who were not reported by their employers and 39,800 who were misclassified as independent...