For the institutional economist William Zebina Ripley at Harvard, trade unions and corporations were central for an understanding of the economy. In the 1910-11 academic year his course, Problems of Labor, completed its ninth iteration.
Beginning with this post on Harvard labor economics, Economics in the Rear-view Mirror will provide links to all previous labor course material transcribed and posted:
Links to previous Harvard labor exams 1892-93 to 1909-10.
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Labor Bibliographies
Prepared by Ripley
Short Bibliography of Trade Unionism, 1910.
Short Bibliography of Strikes and Boycotts, 1910.
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Course Announcement, Description
1910-11
9a 1hf. Problems of Labor. Half-course (first half-year); Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. [Ralph Cahoon] Whitnack.
This course will deal mainly with the economic and social relations of employer and employed, with especial reference to legislation. Among the topics included will be, — collective bargaining; labor organizations; factory legislation in the United States and Europe; strikes, strike legislation and legal decisions; conciliation and arbitration; employers’ liability and compulsory compensation; compulsory insurance with particular reference to European experience; the problem of the unemployed; apprenticeship, and trade and technical education.
Each student will make at least one report upon a labor union, from the original documents. Two lectures a week, with one recitation, will be the usual practice.
Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VII No. 23 (June 21, 1910), pp. 58-59.
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Course Enrollment
1910-11
Economics 9a 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. [Ralph Cahoon] Whitnack. — Problems of Labor.
Total 64: 6 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 29 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 3 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.
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ECONOMICS 9a1
Mid-Year Examination, 1910-11
- Under the compulsory German insurance laws, who pays the premiums for (a) accident, (b) sickness, (c) old age, insurance, respectively?
- What are some of the abuses of private employment offices in the United States? What is alleged to be one of the main objections to the establishment of public employment offices? What has been the experience in Germany and the United States in this regard?
- As contrasted with English conditions, what is the main dificulty to be considered in the proposed adoption of “workmen’s compensation” legislation in Massachusetts?
- What is the one great advantage from the employers’ standpoint of the German over the English system in respect of accident insurance?
- New Zealand provided by law for both conciliation boards and courts of arbitration for labor disputes. What has been the experience with the former?
- The western locomotive engineers have recently endeavored to secure the adoption of a wage scale granting much higher wages to drivers of compound Mallet engines; not simply because more labor was needed to handle them, but largely because they could haul twice the tonnage of freight. What would be the engineers’ probable motive? Is this anything in principle like a premium plan of paying for labor? Discuss it.
- Explain the nature of an injunction. What was its origin in law, and how did it become applicable to the prosecution of labor disputes?
- What English statute resulted from the Taff Vale decision in England? Have we any law or, in your judgment, need of such a law in the United States?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1910-11.
Previous Labor Courses at Harvard
1892-93. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1893-94. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1894-95. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1895-96. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1896-97. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (J. and E. Cummings)
1897-98. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (J. and E. Cummings)
1898-99. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (E. Cummings)
1899-1900. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (Omitted)
1900-01. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (W.F. Willoughby)
1901-02. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (E.D. Durand)
1902-03. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1903-04. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1904-05. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1905-06. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1906-07. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1907-08. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1908-09. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1909-10. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
Image Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Phtographs Online. Women on float of the Women’s Auxiliary Typographical Union in New York City’s Labor Day parade, published 6 September 1909.