Arne L. Kalleberg

Kalleberg has written extensively on the causes and consequences of the emergence of nonstandard work arrangements such as temporary, contract, and part-time work in the US, Asia and Europe (e.g., Kalleberg, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2012; Kalleberg, Reskin and Hudson, 2000). His recent book, Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s to 2000s (Russell Sage Foundation, 2011), discusses the rise of precarious employment in the United States as well as the growing polarization of jobs with regard to earnings as well as non-economic rewards such as the control people have over their work activities and schedules, especially in balancing work and family. He has also extended his studies of precarious work to various countries in Asia (e.g., Kalleberg and Hewison, 2013; Hewison and Kalleberg, 2013; Hsiao, Kalleberg and Hewison, 2015).

Kalleberg's research has also shown the potential of collecting information on nationally representative samples of organizations for addressing a wide range of outcomes related to inequality, both at the organizational level (e.g., Kalleberg, Knoke, Marsden and Spaeth, 1996; Kalleberg, Reynolds and Marsden, 2003) and for individuals (e.g., Kalleberg and Reskin, 1995).

Institutions are central to sociological explanations of social and economic inequality. Kalleberg's research has sought to document how different kinds of work institutions, or work structures (occupations, industries, unions, classes) generate inequalities in economic as well as non-economic (such as autonomy and challenging work) rewards. He provided a conceptual framework of how multiple work structures and market combine to produce inequalities in his book with Ivar Berg, Work and Industry: Structures, Markets and Processes (1987).

Kalleberg's contributions to sociological explanations of labor markets show how institutional structures combine with characteristics of individuals (such as their gender, race, age, education, experience) to produce inequalities. This work is represented by Kalleberg and Sørensen (1979), Althauser and Kalleberg (1981); Sørensen and Kalleberg (1981); Kalleberg, Wallace and Althauser (1981); Kalleberg and Van Buren (1996). His research on occupations shows how they produce differences in wage inequality (e.g., Kalleberg and Griffin, 1980; Mouw and Kalleberg, 2010).

Kalleberg's research on this topic is represented by his early work on job satisfaction (Kalleberg, 1977), his comparative studies of organizational commitment and job satisfaction in Japan and the United States (e.g., Lincoln and Kalleberg, 1985) and his more recent book on The Mismatched Worker (Kalleberg, 2007).

Kalleberg received his B.A. from Brooklyn College and his M.S. and Ph.D. (in 1975) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was a faculty member at Indiana University for 10 years, where he served as the director of the Institute of Social Research. He moved to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1986. Previous administrative roles at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill include chair of the Department of Sociology (1990–2000), senior associate dean of The Graduate School (2001–2004), senior associate vice chancellor for graduate studies and research (interim) (2000–2001), senior associate dean for social sciences and international programs (2004–2007), and director of international programs (2007–2008). He has been a visiting professor at universities in Germany, Norway, South Korea, and Sweden.

Arne Lindeman Kalleberg (born February 9, 1949) is a Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Faculty Fellow at the Carolina Population Center. He is also an adjunct professor in the Kenan-Flagler Business School, the Department of Public Policy, and the Curriculum in Global Studies. Kalleberg served as the secretary of the American Sociological Association from 2001 to 2004 and as its president from 2007 to 2008. He has been the editor-in-chief of Social Forces, an international journal of social research for over ten years.