For the RTF Circular File

Study: Delaware No. 1 for Work Environment

BOSTON - Delaware ranked first and Louisiana last in a University of Massachusetts study that tried to measure where workers are treated best, based on factors including job opportunities, job quality and workplace fairness.

[snip]

The "Decent Work in America" study, released Tuesday by UMass Amherst's Political Economy Research Institute, compares states based on 2004 data covering average pay; job opportunities; benefits; percentage of low-income workers; fair treatment between genders; and ability to unionize.

As is the case with any "scientific" study of this nature, you have to look at the reasoning behind the parameters used for data acquisition, and take it for what it's worth. And, in this case, not surprisingly, not everyone seems to agree with its findings or its methods.

A Texas economic development official criticized the survey, saying the abundance of small states near the top of the ranks indicate criteria may be too narrow.

"The top five states represent states with fairly small state economies that are not nearly as broad and complex as ours," said Carlton Schwab, president and chief executive of the Texas Economic Development Council, a private nonprofit association of economic development professionals. "They have a fraction of the economic activity that we have in our state. Oftentimes, it may not be a fair comparison."

Kathy Walt, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said, "This is a survey done by a university with a very strong liberal bias, that has driven a survey to fit its world view."

With that in mind, let's see how the six New England states stack up*.

Complete state rankings here.

1 Delaware (89)
2 New Hampshire (81)
3 Minnesota (80)
4 Vermont(77)
5 Iowa (73)
6 Connecticut (72)
7 Wisconsin (71)
8 Indiana (71)
9 Nebraska (71)
10 South Dakota (70)
11 North Dakota (69)
12 Maine (68)
13 Pennsylvania (68)
14 Rhode Island (68)
15 New Jersey (67)
16 Kentucky (66)
17 Missouri (66)
18 Massachusetts (65)

Yes, I'll be adding this to my "101 Reasons to Flee" file. SEE UPDATE BELOW

* Inspired by my personal belief that ties are for losers, I took the liberty of eliminating the ties by calculating the averages based on the data shown to the nearest tenth. Yeah, I know this bumps Massachusetts up a notch to 18th place instead of 19th as shown on their list , but what can I say? I'm all, like, fair and balanced and shit.

UPDATE: As reader, BostonShepherd, points out:

For those MassBackwards readers who might care, it’s eye-opening to read in the study entitled “Decent Work in America” what metrics were used in the calculation of “Job Opportunities”, “Job Quality”, and “Workplace Fairness.” Measurement criteria (on page 1) read like a wish list from the Massachusetts Teachers Association and Ted Kennedy’s office.

Where else but in this dreamland would right-to-work legislation count against you, while a higher percentage of union employment increases your score?

Upon further inspection of this "study", and after reading the "interview" with the study's author, it's pretty clear which "file" this one belongs in.

James Heintz, PERI's Associate Director and Assistant Research Professor, is one of a team of three authors who designed the Work Environment Index. He is interviewed here by Kate Cell, PERI's Communications Director.

Ready for some real hardball questioning?

KC: The states that are doing worst in the WEI are historically slave/Jim Crow states and/or have high immigrant populations. What do you think labor history in these states has to do with the current environment provided for workers there?

JH: Racial and ethnic differences have always had a profound impact on the distribution of economic opportunities in the U.S.

Wait for it.

The WEI captures some of these dynamics in its assessment of the overall work environment. If a state fails to provide decent employment opportunities to African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, or immigrant communities, for example, this will tend to pull down its ranking. In some cases, unfair outcomes in terms of job opportunities are symptomatic of other inequalities – for instance, in terms of educational opportunities or the distribution of wealth.

Raise your hand if you saw that one coming.

However, it could also be the case that the commitment among politicians to improve conditions for the most vulnerable workers simply isn't there when the workers belong to different racial and ethnic groups.

Kanye West, please call your agent.

Until states are able to overcome these barriers and make lasting improvements, they will tend to score lower relative to others.

Translation:

KC: I see a lot of southern states that voted for Bush in the last election don't rank very high on your list? Why is that? Does that correlate, in any way, to his hatred for black people?

JH: Oh, indeed. That, and the fact that we don't care much for ignorant, redneck cracker-types here at the University of Massachusetts. Therefore, we have devised a system that inflates the scores of those states that most stridently adhere to the tenets of Marxist philosophy and most warmly embrace the soft racism of lowered expectations for people of color.

And what better way to conduct a study than to have your results predetermined before you even begin to crunch the numbers?

KC: Do you anticipate any big changes in the rankings for next year?

JH: I'm sure that the rankings will change somewhat from year to year, but improving a state's work environment is a gradual process, something built up over many years. Therefore, I don't expect to see big changes from one year to the next. If we track changes over 5 years, or 10 years, then we might see some significant shifts.

Having said that, there are a few changes that should affect the scores of particular states next year. Florida will undoubtedly improve, since voters approved a new minimum wage law. Indiana and Missouri may slip down slightly, since their governors have decided to restrict the ability of state-level public sector workers to bargain over their conditions of employment.

Translation:

JH: Florida will be receiving more bonus points since the voters there have approved legislation that opposes a free-market economy. We totally get off on shit like that.

OK, enough of that toad. I feel like I need a shower from just reading that, never mind cutting and pasting it in here.

Let's revisit those numbers for New England now. Only this time, we'll eliminate the "Marxist Mark-up" column.

New Hampshire (84) +3
Connecticut (68) -4
Vermont (66) -11
Maine (57) -11
Rhode Island (57) -11
Massachusetts (57) -8

Stunning.

Not.