Author and economist, Arin Dube, is interviewed about his latest book as part of the first event in the Worker Dignity Speaker Series on Nov. 17.
In his book, 'The Wage Standard: How Raising Labor Standards Can Restore Middle-Class Jobs', UMass Amherst economist Arin Dube challenges the idea that pay is set by impersonal market forces. Drawing on two decades of research, he shows that employers have considerable power over what they pay, and that wages depend on institutions, norms, and bargaining power. Since 1980, as unions weakened and minimum wages lost value, most American workers' pay fell well behind the growth of the economy. That was not inevitable. Dube explains what went wrong and how full employment and stronger wage standards, from minimum wages like the one Arizona voters approved to pay standards for entire industries, can reconnect workers' pay to productivity.
Arin Dube will be discussing his book in two separate events on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026. This event page is for the online, virtual event, which will be from 12:00pm - 1:30pm via Zoom Webinar. The event will consist of an interview with Arin Dube and Teresa Ghilarducci, fellow economist and Senior Fellow of the Center for Work and Democracy, which will be followed by audience Q&A.
Interested in learning about the other, in-person event, which will be an discussion with Arin Dube? Please see the event page for it, linked here!
Want to buy the book?
Buy the book online, linked here.
The Worker Dignity Speaker Series:
When workers organize unions, go on strike, or advocate for better workplaces, they rarely say they are risking their livelihoods for a 5 percent pay raise. They say they are doing it for dignity. Better wages and benefits matter, but they are often expressions of something deeper: the desire to be respected, to have a voice, to exercise some control over one’s work, and to be recognized as fully human.
The Worker Dignity Initiative launches an ASU conversation about what workers mean when they demand dignity. Bringing together economics, religion, journalism, labor leadership, and public engagement, the series explores worker dignity from complementary perspectives while strengthening ASU’s role as a national center for dialogue about the future of work.
Please join us for other events part of this Initiative by following our event page and/or following our socials at: @asu_cwd on Instagram | @CWD_ASU on X
About Arin Dube:
Arindrajit (Arin) Dube’s research focuses on labor economics, with additional work in health economics, public finance, and political economy. Current projects include wage inequality, labor market competition, the employment and distributional effects of minimum wages, sectoral bargaining systems, fairness concerns in the workplace, the interplay of behavioral biases and labor market power, the impact of unemployment benefits, and the role of firm wage policies in the growth of inequality. He has also studied employer health mandates, unions and collective bargaining, outsourcing and subcontracting, gun laws and violence, and the capitalization of private information in stock prices.
He has published in leading journals including the Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Review, Review of Economics and Statistics, and American Economic Journal. He has testified before Congress, consulted with the UK government, advised many state legislatures, and is invited to speak about his research around the world. He has written opinion pieces for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Time Magazine, and has been interviewed extensively on radio and television, including NPR, MSNBC, CNBC, and Bloomberg TV.
Dube received his B.A. in Economics and M.A. in Development Policy from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. He has previously held positions as Visiting Professor at the MIT Department of Economics and Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. He is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a research fellow at IZA (the Institute for Labor in Germany) and RFBerlin, and a research affiliate of the MIT Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work.
