When Mandates Work

Starting in the 1990s, San Francisco launched a series of bold but relatively unknown public policy experiments to improve wages and benefits for thousands of local workers. Since then, scholars have documented the effects of those policies on compensation, productivity, job creation, and health coverage. Opponents predicted a range of negative impacts, but the evidence tells a decidedly different tale. This book brings together that evidence for the first time, reviews it as a whole, and considers its lessons for local, state, and federal policymakers.

List of FiguresList of TablesAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations and Glossary1. When Do Mandates Work?Ken Jacobs and Michael ReichPart I The Pay Mandates2. Labor Market Impacts of San Francisco's Minimum WageArindrajit Dube, Suresh Naidu, and Michael Reich3. Liftoff: Raising Wages at San Francisco AirportPeter Hall, Ken Jacobs, and Michael Reich4. Living Wage and Home Care WorkersCandace HowesPart II The Benefit Mandates5. Health Spending Requirements in San FranciscoCarrie Colla, William Dow, and Arindrajit Dube6. Requiring Equal Benefits for Domestic PartnersChristy Mallory and Brad Sears7. Universal Paid Sick LeaveVicky LovellPart III Making the Mandates Work8. Enforcement of Labor StandardsMiranda Dietz, Donna Levitt, and Ellen Love9. Labor Policy and Local Economic DevelopmentMiriam J. Wells10. Community Benefit Agreements and Economic Development at Hunters Point ShipyardKen JacobsAfterwordMiranda Dietz, Ken Jacobs, and Michael ReichContributorsIndex