Headshot of Professor John Budd wearing a dark suit in front of blurred lighted hallway

John Budd

Industrial Relations Land Grant Chair & Professor
Department of Work and Organizations

Education:

  • BA 1987
    Economics & Mathematics, Colgate University
  • MA 1989
    Economics, Princeton University
  • PhD 1991
    Economics, Princeton University

Expertise:

  • Labor Relations/Collective Bargaining
  • Industrial Relations
  • Labor Policy

Biography

John W. Budd (he/him) is a Professor of Work and Organizations in the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, where he holds the Industrial Relations Land Grant Chair. He is a graduate of Colgate University and earned a Ph.D. degree in economics from Princeton University. Professor Budd is the author of Employment with a Human Face: Balancing Efficiency, Equity, and Voice (Cornell University Press), Labor Relations: Striking a Balance (McGraw-Hill), Invisible Hands, Invisible Objectives: Bringing Workplace Law and Public Policy into Focus (with Stephen Befort, Stanford University Press), The Thought of Work (Cornell University Press), and numerous journal articles. Professor Budd is a Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) Fellow, and will be president of LERA in 2025-26. In 2023 Professor Budd served on the [Minnesota] Governor's Committee on the Compensation, Wellbeing, and Fair Treatment of Transportation Network Company Drivers. Within the University of Minnesota, he has been Chair of the Department of Work and Organizations, Director of the Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies, Director of Graduate Studies for the University of Minnesota's graduate programs in Human Resources and Industrial Relations, and a key developer of the undergraduate course "Race, Power, and Justice in Business." You can take his MOOC "Preparing to Manage Human Resources."

Selected Works & Activities

  • BOOKS
  • Labor Relations: Striking a Balance, 6th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2021 [Chinese translation: China Workers Press, 2020].
  • The Thought of Work, Cornell University Press, 2011 [Spanish translation: Tirant lo Blanch, 2014; Korean translation: Ewha Press, 2016; Turkish translation: Ayrinti Publishers, 2016; Chinese translation: Tsinghua University Press, 2018].
  • Invisible Hands, Invisible Objectives: Bringing Workplace Law and Public Policy Into Focus, with S. Befort, Stanford University Press, 2009.
  • The Ethics of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, edited with J. Scoville, Labor and Employment Relations Association, 2005.
  • Employment with a Human Face: Balancing Efficiency, Equity, and Voice, Cornell University Press, 2004 [Chinese translation: Peking University Press, 2007; Arabic translation: Al-Ahlia, 2007; Turkish translation: Kure Yayinlari, 2018].
  • SELECTED JOURNAL ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS
  • Never ‘One-Size-Fits-All’: Mick Marchington’s Unique Voice on Voice, From Micro-Level Informality to Macro-Level Turbulence,” with S. Johnstone and J.R. Lamare, Human Resource Management Journal, 2023.
  • “Making Sense of (Mis)Matched Frames of Reference: A Dynamic Cognitive Theory of (In)stability in HR Practices,” with D. Pohler and W. Huang, Industrial Relations, 2022.
  • “Using Efficiency, Equity, and Voice for Defining Job Quality and Legal Regulation For Achieving It,” with S.F. Befort and S. Borelli, in C. Warhurst et al. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Job Quality, 2022.
  • “The Relative Importance of Industrial Relations Ideas in Politics: A Quantitative Analysis of Political Party Manifestos across 54 Countries,” with J.R. Lamare, Industrial Relations, 2022. [LERA 2023 Scoville Award]
  • “The Importance of Political Systems for Trade Union Membership, Coverage, and Influence: Theory and Comparative Evidence,” with J.R. Lamare, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2021.
  • “Worker Voice and Political Participation in Society,” with J.R. Lamare, in K. Zimmermann (ed.), Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, 2021.
  • "The Future of Employee Voice," with S. Kalfa, in A. Wilkinson et al. (eds.), The Handbook of Research on Employee Voice, 2nd ed., 2020.
  • "The Many Meanings of Cooperation in the Employment Relationship and Their Implications," with M. Bray and J. Macneil, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2020.
  • “Advancing Dispute Resolution by Understanding the Sources of Conflict: Toward an Integrated Framework,” with A.J.S. Colvin and D. Pohler, ILR Review, 2020.
  • “What Do Unions Do for Mothers? Paid Maternity Leave Use and the Multifaceted Roles of Labor Unions,” with T-Y Park and E-S Lee, ILR Review, 2019.
  • "The Employment Relationship: Key Elements, Alternative Frames of Reference, and Implications for HRM," with D. Bhave, in A. Wilkinson et al. (eds.), Sage Handbook of Human Resource Management, 2nd ed., 2019.
  • “Learning about Democracy at Work: Cross-National Evidence on Individual Employee Voice Influencing Political Participation in Civil Society,” with J.R. Lamare and A. Timming, ILR Review, 2018.
  • "Are Voluntary Agreements Better? Evidence from Baseball Arbitration," with A. Sojourner and J. Jung, ILR Review, 2017.
  • "The Eye Sees What the Mind Knows: The Conceptual Foundations of Invisible Work," in M. Crain et al. (eds.), Invisible Labor: Hidden Work in the Contemporary World, 2016.
  • "Worker Well-Being and the Importance of Work: Bridging the Gap," with D. Spencer, European Journal of Industrial Relations, 2015.
    • Employee Voice
    • Labor Unions and Political Systems
    • Frames of Reference
    • ​Conflict Resolution
    • James G. Scoville Best International/Comparative Industrial Relations Paper Award, Labor and Employment Relations Association, 2023
    • Outstanding Service Award, Carlson School of Management, 2023
    • Outstanding Research Award, Carlson School of Management, 2022
    • Distinguished Teaching Award, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2011, 2015, 2022
    • Melvin Lurie Labor-Management Cooperation Prize, 2020
    • Fellow, Labor and Employment Relations Association, 2019
    • Texty Textbook Excellence Award, Textbook and Academic Authors Association, 2005
    • Richard A. Lester Prize for the Outstanding Book in Labor Economics and Industrial Relations, Princeton University, 2004
    • Industrial Relations Research Association, Excellence in Education Award, 2001
    • Industrial Relations Research Association Outstanding Young Scholar Award, 1998
    • Editorial Board, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2007-present.
    • Editorial Board, Human Resource Management Journal, 2017-present.
    • Editorial Board, ILR Review, 2003-present.
    • Editorial Board, Labour and Industry, 2016-present.
    • Governor’s Committee on the Compensation, Wellbeing, and Fair Treatment of Transportation Network Company Drivers, 2023.
    • Dean’s Advisory Committee for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, 2020-2022.
    • Executive Board, Labor and Employment Relations Association, 2014-2019.
    • International Scientific Committee, ADAPT International (Association for International and Comparative Studies in the field of Labour Law and Industrial Relations), 2020-present.

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