Deck 14: Labor Market Discrimination

Question 1

What has been the general secular trend of the weekly earnings of full-time female workers compared to male workers What factors help explain this trend

Answer 1

The ratio of female to male hourly earnings in the U. S. rose substantially between 1979 and the mid 1990s and has risen modestly since then.  A number of factors are cited in the text to help explain this trend:
• Skill levels for female workers have increased
• Discrimination may have diminished
• The economy has moved away from manufacturing toward services
• There has been a decline in unionism
• The occupational distribution may have changed to benefit women

Question 2

"Wage differences between men and women reflect not discrimination but rather differences in job continuity and rational decisions with respect to education and on-the-job training." Explain why you agree or disagree.

Answer 2

Discrimination is treating someone inferior on the ground of race, gender, color et cetera. Discrimination has much negative effect on the development and growth of the country. Main problem of the discrimination is that it creates disparities between the levels of income of the society.
It is being noted that there is a difference between the wage earning of males and females. African American males and white males income is higher than the income of white females and African American females, but economist argue that the wage earning difference between the male and female is not because of discrimination, there are lots of other non discriminatory factors due to which there is a gap between the earning of the males and females.
1. The main factor behind the wage earning of males and females is the structure of occupation. Women mostly prefer jobs which required less effort and are for short time period, because of marriage and child caring, so they choose education and line of work which required less effort and that result in lower earning.
2. Woman expected rate of return on human capital investment is less than man and because of this they may be willing to invest less on the job training and education, which affects their level of productivity and the wage earning.
3. Woman prefer to work part time in the labor market and work from home and this result in less earning of wages.

Question 3

In Becker's taste for discrimination model, what is the meaning of the discrimination coefficient d If the monetary value of d is, say, $6 for a given white employer, will that employer hire African-American or white workers if their actual wage rates are $16 and $20, respectively Explain. In Becker's model, what effect would a decrease in the supply of African-American labor have on the African- American to white wage ratio and the employment of African-American workers Use the model to explain the economic effects of an increase in employer prejudice. What are the basic public policy implications of this model

Answer 3

d is the amount by which a discriminating employer perceives a person's wage to exceed his or her actual wage.  At the given values, equally productive whites are perceived to be cheaper; the employer will hire only whites.  A decrease in the supply of African American labor would increase the African American-white wage ratio.  An increase in employer prejudice would reduce the African American-white wage ratio.

Question 4

Some economists have argued that the unemployment effects associated with the minimum wage have been greater for African-Americans than for whites. Explain why this might be the case.

Question 5

Use simple supply and demand analysis to explain the impact of occupational segregation or "crowding" on the relative wage rates of men and women. Who gains and who loses as a consequence of eliminating occupational segregation Explain the following statement: "A gender-blind labor market would allocate labor more efficiently throughout the economy, and productivity would be higher on average."

Question 6

Critically evaluate each of the following statements:
a. "Affirmative action plans have not worked; there is no evidence that they have increased African-American or female employment and wages."
b. "The greatest barriers to economic equality between men and women are marriage and children."

Question 7

Assume that the occupational distribution of males and females is as follows:
Calculate the index of segregation and explain its meaning. Compare the meaning of an index of 0.40 with indexes of 1.00 and 0. As applied to gender, has the index changed significantly over time

Question 8

Although the labor market opportunities for women have improved greatly over the past 30 years, poverty has become increasingly concentrated among women. How can you reconcile these two developments

Question 9

In what way does discrimination redistribute national income How does it reduce national income

Question 10

What has been the general secular trend of the weekly earnings of full-time female workers compared with male workers What factors help explain this trend

Question 11

Women have increased the amount of education they have achieved relative to men, and average years of schooling completed are now approximately the same for males and females. Human capital theory predicts that this would close the male-female earnings gap. In fact, this has not happened. How can you explain it

Question 12

In Becker's taste for discrimination model, what is the meaning of the discrimination coefficient d If the monetary value of d is, say, $6 for a given white employer, will that employer hire African-American or white workers if their actual wage rates are $16 and $20, respectively Explain. In Becker's model, what effect would a decrease in the supply of African-American labor have on the African-American to white wage ratio and the employment of African-American workers Use the model to explain the economic effects of an increase in employer prejudice. What are the basic public policy implications of this model

Question 13

What is statistical discrimination and why does it occur The theory of statistical discrimination implies that discrimination can persist indefinitely, whereas the taste for discrimination model suggests that discrimination will tend to disappear. Explain the difference.

Question 14

Use simple supply and demand analysis to explain the impact of occupational segregation or "crowding" on the relative wage rates of men and women. Who gains and who loses as a consequence of eliminating occupational segregation Explain the following statement: "A gender-blind labor market would allocate labor more efficiently throughout the economy, and productivity would be higher on average."

Question 15

Explain the following statement: "In the taste for discrimination model, discrimination is practiced even though it is costly to do so. But in the statistical discrimination model, it is clear that discrimination pays."

Question 16

Assume that the occupational distribution of males and females is as follows:

Calculate the index of segregation and explain its meaning. Compare the meaning of an index of 0.40 with indexes of 1.00 and 0. As applied to gender, has the index changed significantly over time

Question 17

Is the following statement true or false If it's false, explain why. "The unemployment rates for white females and African-American men are considerably higher than the rate for white men."

Question 18

In what way does discrimination redistribute national income How does it reduce national income

Question 19

There has been considerable controversy over the fact that certain pension plans into which males and females make equal contributions pay smaller monthly benefits to women than to men on the grounds that women live longer on average than men. Is this practice discriminatory Explain. The use of female military personnel in most forms of ground combat is currently prohibited. Do you favor this ban

Question 20

It has been argued that to correct the inequalities of past discrimination, African-Americans and females should be given preference in employment and promotion. Do you agree In the famous Bakke case, the plaintiff argued that he had been unjustly denied admission to medical school because less qualified African-American applicants were given preference under a quota system. Evaluate the plaintiff 's argument: "To discriminate in favor of one individual or group is necessarily to discriminate against some other individual or group." Do you agree