Labor Think Tank Did Important Research
Re “Labor Study Is Alone Under Gov.’s Budget Ax” (April 8), about the Institute for Labor and Employment at the University of California -- the sole research institute that the governor has targeted for elimination:
When I was a member of the ILE’s research committee for its initial two years, we distributed funds to researchers at all UC campuses. Topics ranged broadly, from understanding how to expand health insurance coverage to studying how human resource policies affect organizational productivity, from examining the lives of second-generation Mexican immigrants over the state’s history to reducing injuries and turnover among home healthcare workers. A key focus of almost all the projects was to provide research that would help policymakers make informed decisions.
It is surprising for the governor to cut funding on the topic he claims to care the most about: jobs. Moreover, it is a dangerous precedent for the governor to choose what topics are or are not appropriate for study at the UC.
David I. Levine
Professor, Haas School
of Business, UC Berkeley
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