Abstract
Hansen points out that during the past twenty years states have taken proactive efforts to develop their international or regional competitiveness by keeping labor costs in check with legislation such as employment-at-will, lower wages, and limited workmen's compensation and unemployment benefits. Hansen argues in chapter 3 that the decline in state labor costs since the 1970s has not been the result of globalization but of domestic political trends, particularly declining voter turnout, public opinion, lessened competition, including interstate competition, and a drop in union membership.
