Roland W. Zullo

Associate Research Scientist, and LEO Lecturer II, School of Social Work

Roland Zullo is the Director of the Center for Labor and Community Studies at the University of Michigan - Dearborn. His interest is in understanding how non-market institutions contribute to the formation of sustainable economies, defined as exchange systems that are equitable, politically stable and environmentally responsible.

Contact Information

  • (734) 615-3854

  • Center for Labor and Community Studies- University of Michigan- Dearborn
    1900 Hubbard Drive
    Dearborn, MI 481264687 SSWB
    University of Michigan
    School of Social Work
    1080 S. University Ave.
    Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Education

  • 1998 PhD Labor and Industrial Relations
    University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • 1989 MS Industrial Relations
    West Virginia University, Morgantown
  • 1987 BS Management and Economics
    Siena College, Loudonville, NY

News

Activities

Publications
Zullo, R. (2008). Labor unions and political inclusion. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 62(1), 22-38.
Zullo, R. (2002). Private contracting of out-of-home placements and child protection case management outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 24(8), 583-600.
Liu, J., Root, L., Beck, J., & Zullo, R. (2013). Creating worker-management committees to promote workers' voice in China. Journal of Workplace Rights, 17(1), 3-22.
Zullo, R. (2003). Shaping political preferences through workplace mobilization: Unions and the 2000 election. Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations, 12, 173-196.
Zullo, R. (2004). Labor council outreach and union member voter turnout: a micro-analysis from the 2000 election. Industrial Relations, 43(2), 324-338.
Zullo, R. (2006). Is social service contracting coercive, competitive, or collaborative? Evidence from the case allocation patterns of child protection services. Administration in Social Work, 30(3), 25-42.
Zullo, R. (2006). Public-private contracting and political reciprocity. Political Research Quarterly, 59(2), 273-281.
Zullo, R. (2006). Union cities and voter turnout. Labor and Employment Relations Association Proceedings of the Fifty-Eighth Meeting, January, 193-205.
Zullo, R. (2007). Labor's divided house: Contextual and theoretical terms of the U.S. Divorce. Advances in Labor and Industrial Relations, 15, 333-358.
Zullo, R. (2007). Should labor play golf with republicans? Labor PAC support across political parties. Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society, 10(June), 225-237.
Zullo, R., & Gates, A. (2008). Labor education in the time of dismay. Labor Studies Journal, 33(2), 179-202.
Zullo, R. (2008). Transit contracting reexamined: Determinants of cost efficiency and resource allocation. Journal of Public Administation Research and Theory, 18(3), 495-515.
Zullo, R., & Ness, I. (2009). Privatization and the working conditions of health care support staff. International Journal of Public Administration, 32(2), 152-165.
Zullo, R. (2009). Does fiscal stress induce privatization? Correlates of private and inter-municipal contracting, 1992 to 2002. Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions, 22(3), 459-481.
Zullo, R., & Pratt, G. (2009). Critical pedagogy as a tool for labor-community coalition building. Journal of Community Practice, 17(1-2), 140-156.
Zullo, R. (2010). How do religious groups respond to class and inequality? Religion, socioeconomics, and political behavior in the 2000 election. Labor Studies Journal, 35(1), 73-93.
Zullo, R., Herlihy, P. A., & Heirlich, M. (2010). A longitudinal lens on the evolution of EAP, work-life, and wellness benefit programs. World at Work Journal, 19(3), 28-40.
Zullo, R. (2011). Labor unions and charity. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 64(4), 699-711.
Zullo, R. (2011). Right to work laws and fatalities in construction. Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society, 14(2), 225-234.
Zullo, R. (2012). The evolving demographics of the union movement. Labor Studies Journal, 37(2), 145-162.
Zullo, R. (2013). Organized labor's civic niche. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42(4), 781-802.
Li, L. W., & Zullo, R. (2003). A functioning profile of Medicaid Waiver participants in Michigan: Does the program admit the high functioning? Care Management Journals, 4(1), 31-36.
Zullo, R. (2006). [Review of the book The Fox in the Henhouse: How Privatization Threatens Democracy by Si Kahn and Elizabeth Minnic]. Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society, 9(3), 379-381.
Zullo, R. (2010). [Review of the book The New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement by Amy B. Dean and David B. Reynolds]. Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society, 13(2), 309-312.
Zullo, R., Herlihy, P, & Heirich, M. (2012). A longitudinal lens on the evolution of EAP, work-life and wellness benefit programs. Well-Being: A Collection of Articles from WorldatWork. Scottsdale, AZ: WorldatWork Press.
Zullo, R. (2002). Confronting the wicked witch and exposing the wizard? Public sector unions and privatization policy. Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society, 6(2), 9-39.
Eimer, S., & Zullo, R. (2000). The "Labor '96 Campaign" testing the effect of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO political outreach. Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society, 4(1), 73-91.
Zullo, R. (2017). Better to own or to regulate? The case of alcohol distribution and sales. Administration and Society, 49(2), 190-211.
Zullo, R. (2017). An input adjustment method for challenging privatization: a case from Michigan Prison Health Services. Labor Studies Journal, 42(2), 85-98.
Zullo, R. & Liu, Y. (2017). Contending with defense industry reallocations: A literature review of relevant factors. Economic Development Quarterly, 31(4), 360-372.
Bruno, R., Zullo, R., Manzo, F., & Dickson, A. (2015). The economic effects of adopting a right-to-work law: implications for Illinois. Laobr Studies Journal, 40(4), 319-361.
Zullo, R. (2021). Does the open shop harm union collective action? Industrial Relations Journal, 52(2), 183-197.
Zullo, R. (2021). Non-market institutions and crime in the U.S. countries: Hayek v. Polanyi. Review of Social Economy, 79(2), 310-332.
Zullo, R. and Kiningham, H. (2022). Non-contractual relations between private mutual aid and government during a crisis. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 49(2), 93-113.

Experience
Year Description
2024-present LEO Lecturer II, University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, MI
2022-2024 LEO Lecturer I, University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, MI
2020-2022 LEO Intermittent Lecturer, University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, MI
2018-present Associate Research Scientist, University of Michigan School of Social Work, Ann Arbor, MI

Honors and Awards
Year Description
2020 Review of Radical Political Economics Annual Best Paper Award

Presentations
Year Description
1995 Zullo, R. (1995, January). The role of comparable data in unionization. The 47th IRRA Conference. Washington, DC.
1996 Zullo, R. (1996, January). Union density in the U.S. and Canada: Explaining the divergence. The 48th IRRA Conference. San Francisco, CA.
1997 Zullo, R. (1997, August). Did the Wisconsin AFL-CIO's 'Campaign for Working Families' work? American Sociological Association. Toronto, Canada.
1997 Zullo, R. (1997, January). Private vs. public delivery of foster care services. The 49th IRRA Conference. New Orleans, LA. (Refereed paper winner, Labor Markets and Employment Policy.)
1997 Zullo, R. (1997, January). The limits of variable pay schemes: contracts and beyond. The 49th IRRA Conference. New Orleans, LA.

Courses
No courses found for the current term.