The US is the only advanced country that expects victims of wage theft or discrimination to sue in courts of general jurisdiction, as it lacks labor courts or administrative agencies with power to compel remedies. This omission is intentional. Both the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) and Title...

This paper analyzes whether Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) signed between the United States and Latin American countries during the last decade produced higher enforcement of labor regulations. The paper computes before-after estimates of the effect of FTAs on labor inspections and exploits...

Under existing American labor, employment, and tax laws, in any one work relationship, a worker is either an “employee” or an “independent contractor.” This binary classification of workers, and the high-stakes outcomes it produces, have been challenged by “gig economy,” or “online...

"This manuscript explores the enforcement of employment standards, using a mixed-methods approach to examine Ontario as a case study. Drawing on interviews with workers, community advocates, and enforcement officials as well as new archival research, the manuscript demonstrates that enforcement...

The paper examines changes in wage and hour labor regulation between 1898 and 1938. Many see the 1905 Lochner Supreme Court decision striking down hours limits for men as the beginning of 30 years in which labor regulation was stymied by the doctrine of "freedom of contract." That issue played a...

Immigration control-related audits and their resulting sanctions are not solely determined by impartial enforcement of laws and regulations. They are also determined by the incentives faced by vote-maximizing congressmen, agents acting on their behalf, and workers likely to compete with...

This study examines OSHA's ability to improve compliance with health and safety standards by means of enforcement at construction work sites. It examines the relation of enforcement activity on compliance in two segments of the industry: construction contractors in the U.S., consisting of 2060...