J Kerrissey
Biographic Data
| ID | 17250 |
|---|---|
| NAME | J Kerrissey |
| GIVEN NAMES | J |
| FAMILY NAME | Kerrissey |
| SIGNATURE | KERRISSEY J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1705-9530 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 53 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
My co-workers, my pay, our inequality regime: A Relational Inequality Model
We conceptualize within job group income distributions as the outcome of claims-making over organizational resources. We examine same job group co-workers by race/gender in all U.S. state and local government workplaces. Findings show that 81% of the time White men earn more than the average worker with whom they share a workplace and job group. Conversely, Black and Hispanic women are disadvantaged respectively 83% and 84% of the time. On averag…
Intersectional Earnings Inequalities in U.S. Public Sector Workplaces and the Great Recession
The authors examine intersectional earnings inequalities in U.S. state and local government workplaces during the Great Recession of 2007 to 2011. Corresponding to closure and exploitation mechanisms as proposed in Relational Inequality Theory, the authors decompose pay gaps into between-workplace and within-workplace segregation components and within-job disparities. Between-workplace closure mechanisms tend to be absent or weak for all comparis…
At Work in a Pandemic: Black Workers’ Experiences of Safety on the Job
Race and labor scholars have argued that precarious, dangerous work, along with the work of social reproduction, has long been disproportionately placed on Black workers. This research examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted essential in-person workers differently by race. Using data collected from approximately 8,000 respondents in five survey waves, we find that Black essential and in-person workers were far more likely to experience safety…
Public-Sector Unions as Equalizing Institutions: Race, Gender, and Earnings
This research demonstrates that the union wage premium is higher for Black and women workers in the US public sector, what we refer to as "an intersectional union premium." Union mechanisms reinforce and expand the more equitable practices of the public sector, resulting in this additional boost. Using Current Population Survey data, 1983-2018, this research models intersectional effects on earnings by examining interactions between union members…
The Political and Civic Lives of Public Sector Workers: Unions and “Public Service Motivation”
Public sector employees are highly engaged in civic and political life, from voting to volunteering. Scholars have theorized that this political activity stems from “public service motivation,” or the selection of publicly oriented individuals into public work. We build on this work by analyzing the role of public sector unions in shaping participation. Unions are central mobilizing organizations in political life, and one in three public sector …
Labor Unions and Political Participation in Comparative Perspective
This research uses comparative survey data to examine the effects of labor union membership on individual political participation. We argue that national political institutions—specifically, democracy and corporatism—shape the ways that unions mobilize their members to engage in the political sphere. Democratic regimes provide structural opportunities and cultural repertoires that lead unions to focus on member mobilization, especially via conten…
Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare Vol. 45 No. 2
The research focused on two aspects of political involvement among social workers.The first was the direct political involvement of social workers on behalf of their clients, and the second, the social workers' encouragement of their clients' involvement in political activity.The main purpose of the research was to identify the factors that explain these two types of political involvement among social workers.The data were collected by means of a…
Life Chances: Labor Rights, International Institutions, and Worker Fatalities in the Global South
Hundreds of thousands of workers die on the job each year around the world, with disproportionately high fatality rates in the global South. Using fixed effects regression models for 51 countries located in the global South, this research examines how shifts in state context, ties to international organizations, and economic context affect worker fatalities from 1985 and 2002. We find that strengthening collective labor rights—the ability to prot…
Enhancing Gender Equity in Academia: Lessons from the Advance Program
Women are underrepresented in U.S. tenure-track faculty positions, and institutional interventions are key to creating greater gender equality and accessing women's potential. This study examines the effectiveness of one 'transformational' intervention, the ADVANCE Institutional Transformation initiative, implemented at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), in 2001. We compare data on women's representation in faculty positions before and d…
Collective Labor Rights and Income Inequality
This article examines the relationship between income inequality and collective labor rights, conceptualized as workers' legal and practical ability to engage in collective activity. Although worker organization is central to explaining income inequality in industrialized democracies, worldwide comparative studies have neglected the role of class-based actors. I argue that the repression of labor rights reduces the capacity of worker organization…
Union Membership and Political Participation in the United States
This article examines the effect of union membership on civic and political participation in the late 20th century in the United States. We discuss why and how unions seek to mobilize their members and where mobilization is channeled. We argue that union membership affects electoral and collective action outcomes and will be larger for low socioeconomic status individuals. Statistical analyses find that union membership is associated with many fo…
Collective Labor Rights and Income Inequality
This article examines the relationship between income inequality and collective labor rights, conceptualized as workers' legal and practical ability to engage in collective activity. Although worker organization is central to explaining income inequality in industrialized democracies, worldwide comparative studies have neglected the role of class-based actors. I argue that the repression of labor rights reduces the capacity of worker organization…
Enhancing Gender Equity in Academia: Lessons from the Advance Program
Women are underrepresented in U.S. tenure-track faculty positions, and institutional interventions are key to creating greater gender equality and accessing women's potential. This study examines the effectiveness of one 'transformational' intervention, the ADVANCE Institutional Transformation initiative, implemented at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), in 2001. We compare data on women's representation in faculty positions before and d…
The Political and Civic Lives of Public Sector Workers: Unions and “Public Service Motivation”
Public sector employees are highly engaged in civic and political life, from voting to volunteering. Scholars have theorized that this political activity stems from “public service motivation,” or the selection of publicly oriented individuals into public work. We build on this work by analyzing the role of public sector unions in shaping participation. Unions are central mobilizing organizations in political life, and one in three public sector …
Public-Sector Unions as Equalizing Institutions: Race, Gender, and Earnings
This research demonstrates that the union wage premium is higher for Black and women workers in the US public sector, what we refer to as "an intersectional union premium." Union mechanisms reinforce and expand the more equitable practices of the public sector, resulting in this additional boost. Using Current Population Survey data, 1983-2018, this research models intersectional effects on earnings by examining interactions between union members…
At Work in a Pandemic: Black Workers’ Experiences of Safety on the Job
Race and labor scholars have argued that precarious, dangerous work, along with the work of social reproduction, has long been disproportionately placed on Black workers. This research examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted essential in-person workers differently by race. Using data collected from approximately 8,000 respondents in five survey waves, we find that Black essential and in-person workers were far more likely to experience safety…
Intersectional Earnings Inequalities in U.S. Public Sector Workplaces and the Great Recession
The authors examine intersectional earnings inequalities in U.S. state and local government workplaces during the Great Recession of 2007 to 2011. Corresponding to closure and exploitation mechanisms as proposed in Relational Inequality Theory, the authors decompose pay gaps into between-workplace and within-workplace segregation components and within-job disparities. Between-workplace closure mechanisms tend to be absent or weak for all comparis…
Union Membership and Political Participation in the United States
This article examines the effect of union membership on civic and political participation in the late 20th century in the United States. We discuss why and how unions seek to mobilize their members and where mobilization is channeled. We argue that union membership affects electoral and collective action outcomes and will be larger for low socioeconomic status individuals. Statistical analyses find that union membership is associated with many fo…
Collective Labor Rights and Income Inequality
This article examines the relationship between income inequality and collective labor rights, conceptualized as workers' legal and practical ability to engage in collective activity. Although worker organization is central to explaining income inequality in industrialized democracies, worldwide comparative studies have neglected the role of class-based actors. I argue that the repression of labor rights reduces the capacity of worker organization…
Life Chances: Labor Rights, International Institutions, and Worker Fatalities in the Global South
Hundreds of thousands of workers die on the job each year around the world, with disproportionately high fatality rates in the global South. Using fixed effects regression models for 51 countries located in the global South, this research examines how shifts in state context, ties to international organizations, and economic context affect worker fatalities from 1985 and 2002. We find that strengthening collective labor rights—the ability to prot…
Enhancing Gender Equity in Academia: Lessons from the Advance Program
Women are underrepresented in U.S. tenure-track faculty positions, and institutional interventions are key to creating greater gender equality and accessing women's potential. This study examines the effectiveness of one 'transformational' intervention, the ADVANCE Institutional Transformation initiative, implemented at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), in 2001. We compare data on women's representation in faculty positions before and d…
Labor Unions and Political Participation in Comparative Perspective
This research uses comparative survey data to examine the effects of labor union membership on individual political participation. We argue that national political institutions—specifically, democracy and corporatism—shape the ways that unions mobilize their members to engage in the political sphere. Democratic regimes provide structural opportunities and cultural repertoires that lead unions to focus on member mobilization, especially via conten…
Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare Vol. 45 No. 2
The research focused on two aspects of political involvement among social workers.The first was the direct political involvement of social workers on behalf of their clients, and the second, the social workers' encouragement of their clients' involvement in political activity.The main purpose of the research was to identify the factors that explain these two types of political involvement among social workers.The data were collected by means of a…
The Political and Civic Lives of Public Sector Workers: Unions and “Public Service Motivation”
Public sector employees are highly engaged in civic and political life, from voting to volunteering. Scholars have theorized that this political activity stems from “public service motivation,” or the selection of publicly oriented individuals into public work. We build on this work by analyzing the role of public sector unions in shaping participation. Unions are central mobilizing organizations in political life, and one in three public sector …
At Work in a Pandemic: Black Workers’ Experiences of Safety on the Job
Race and labor scholars have argued that precarious, dangerous work, along with the work of social reproduction, has long been disproportionately placed on Black workers. This research examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted essential in-person workers differently by race. Using data collected from approximately 8,000 respondents in five survey waves, we find that Black essential and in-person workers were far more likely to experience safety…
Public-Sector Unions as Equalizing Institutions: Race, Gender, and Earnings
This research demonstrates that the union wage premium is higher for Black and women workers in the US public sector, what we refer to as "an intersectional union premium." Union mechanisms reinforce and expand the more equitable practices of the public sector, resulting in this additional boost. Using Current Population Survey data, 1983-2018, this research models intersectional effects on earnings by examining interactions between union members…
Intersectional Earnings Inequalities in U.S. Public Sector Workplaces and the Great Recession
The authors examine intersectional earnings inequalities in U.S. state and local government workplaces during the Great Recession of 2007 to 2011. Corresponding to closure and exploitation mechanisms as proposed in Relational Inequality Theory, the authors decompose pay gaps into between-workplace and within-workplace segregation components and within-job disparities. Between-workplace closure mechanisms tend to be absent or weak for all comparis…
My co-workers, my pay, our inequality regime: A Relational Inequality Model
We conceptualize within job group income distributions as the outcome of claims-making over organizational resources. We examine same job group co-workers by race/gender in all U.S. state and local government workplaces. Findings show that 81% of the time White men earn more than the average worker with whom they share a workplace and job group. Conversely, Black and Hispanic women are disadvantaged respectively 83% and 84% of the time. On averag…
Economics (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Labour economics (7 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (7 works) · Demographic economics (6 works) · Labor Movements and Unions (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Politics (5 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (4 works)