Deck 28: Essay

Question 1

Almost half of all spells of unemployment end when the unemployed person ----------.

Answer 1

Question 2

In the town of Gotham the adult population is 560 thousand,the number unemployed is 25 thousand,and 185 thousand are not in the labor force.Calculate the unemployment rate.

Answer 2

16.1%

Question 3

Discuss the labor-force participation trends for men and women since 1950.

Answer 3

Most people who become unemployed will soon find jobs.Yet most of the economy's unemployment problem is attributable to the relatively few workers who are jobless for long periods of time.

Question 4

In terms of duration,how does cyclical unemployment differ from structural unemployment?

Question 5

What problems arise in interpreting unemployment data?

Question 6

Write the formula for calculating the unemployment rate.

Question 7

Provide a definition of the natural rate of unemployment.

Question 8

The adult non-institutionalized population in the town of Bedrock is 75 thousand.Within Bedrock,5 thousand are unemployed,and 40 thousand are employed.Calculate the number of people not in the labor force.

Question 9

Explain how the following apparently contradictory statement can be true: Most spells of unemployment are short,and most unemployment observed at any given time is long-term.

Question 10

How does the government measure the economy's rate of unemployment?

Question 11

Compare the 2014 unemployment rates and labor-force participation rates of whites,blacks,adults of prime working age (ages 25-54),and teenagers (ages 16-19).

Question 12

An important determinant of a country's standard of living is the amount of ---------- it typically experiences.

Question 13

Minimum wage laws,labor unions,and efficiency wages all generate unemployment by what common mechanism?

Question 14

Define the natural rate of unemployment and cyclical unemployment.

Question 15

Write the formula for calculating the labor force participation rate.

Question 16

Figure 28-6
Refer to Figure 28-6.What type of unemployment is measured by the differences between lines A and B?

Question 17

List the four ways to explain unemployment in the long run.

Question 18

Give a few examples of how sectoral shifts temporarily cause unemployment.

Question 19

Some degree of unemployment is ---------- in a complex economy.

Question 20

How are discouraged workers counted in the unemployment rate?

Question 21

Ignoring the differences across states,explain the benefit provided to the typical worker in the United States from unemployment insurance.

Question 22

List the four types of efficiency-wage theory.

Question 23

Unemployment insurance ---------- the amount of unemployment.

Question 24

Figure 28-7
Refer to Figure 28-7.If the minimum wage is equal to $125,what is the quantity of labor supplied,the quantity of labor demanded,and number unemployed?

Question 25

A labor union is similar to a ----------.

Question 26

Figure 28-7
Refer to Figure 28-7.If the minimum wage is set at $100,how many will be unemployed?

Question 27

Better paid workers are healthier and therefore more productive.2.Firms reduce turnover costs by paying higher wages.3.Higher wages attract a better pool of job applicants.4.Higher wages deter shirking.

Question 28

List the main employment characteristics over which a labor union negotiates for its workers.

Question 29

Briefly describe how labor unions can affect wages in non-unionized industries.

Question 30

The Internet may reduce frictional unemployment because it ----------.

Question 31

Figure 28-7
Refer to Figure 28-7.If the minimum wage increases from $100 to $125,how many additional workers will be unemployed?

Question 32

Figure 28-7
Refer to Figure 28-7.At a minimum wage of $125,how much is the surplus of labor?

Question 33

Briefly compare the structural unemployment that arises from minimum-wage laws to the frictional unemployment that arises from the process of job search.

Question 34

List a few of the characteristics of workers who typically earn at or below the minimum wage.

Question 35

Explain how the actions of labor unions generate greater unemployment.

Question 36

Briefly summarize the advantages and disadvantages of unemployment insurance.

Question 37

Explain the effect of right-to-work laws on the collective bargaining power of labor unions.

Question 38

Briefly explain the four rationales for efficiency wages.

Question 39

Figure 28-7
Refer to Figure 28-7.Without a minimum wage,what is the equilibrium level of employment? Explain what happens to the level of employment if the minimum wage is equal to $125.

Question 40

Define efficiency wages.

Question 41

Why might a favorable change in the economy,such as technological improvement or a decrease in the price of imported oil,be associated with an increase in frictional unemployment?

Question 42

Give an historical example of an efficiency wage that was considered by the firm to be "one of the finest cost-cutting moves we ever made."

Question 43

Why have labor-force participation rates for women in the United States increased since World War II while labor-force participation rates for men have decreased?

Question 44

The table below uses data for the year 2003 provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and adjusted to be comparable to U.S.data.All values are in thousands.Fill in the blank entries in the table.
Country
Adult
Population
Labor
Force
Employed
Unemployed
Unemployment
Rate
Labor-Force
Participation
Rate
Japan
109,474
62,510
3,500
France
26,870
2,577
57.41
Germany
70,159
39,591
9.69

Question 45

What is the theory of efficiency wages? Provide four reasons that employers might pay efficiency wages.

Question 46

Most spells of unemployment are short,and most unemployment observed at any given time is long term.How can this be?

Question 47

Following the recession of 2001,there was a month in which employment and the unemployment rate both rose.Assuming the computations were correct,how is it possible for both to have increased?

Question 48

What is the theory of efficiency wages? Provide four reasons that employers might pay efficiency wages.