Deck 12: Discrimination Ii: Evidence and Policy

Question 1

Why might wage discrimination and earnings discrimination not be interchangeable?

A) Wage discrimination is a static measure of discrimination and earnings discrimination can be measured over time.
B) Earnings are a function of both the wage and hours worked.
C) Earnings are solely at the discretion of the worker because the worker decides what type of job to accept.
D) Wage discrimination is driven to zero in the long run.
E) Wage and earnings discrimination are completely interchangeable because total earnings is a function of the wage.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Recent studies suggest that may _______ be responsible for the observed wage gap between men and women.

A) actual experience
B) completely segregated firms
C) productivity differences
D) differences in educational attainment
E) fertility differences

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The relative _______ and_______ of Blacks and Whites add credence to the selective withdrawal hypothesis.

A) employment-to-population ratios;educational attainment
B) unemployment rates;productivity differences
C) occupational choices;unemployment rates
D) employment-to-population ratios;unemployment rates
E) coefficient of market discrimination;coefficient of employer discrimination

Answer 3

D

Question 4

_______ occurs because we can only collect wage data for workers who choose to work.

A) Self-selection bias
B) The Oaxaca transformation
C) A productivity gap
D) Occupational discrimination
E) Risk aversion

Question 5

The contemporaneous nature of the implementation of policies designed to combat discrimination in the workplace and the narrowing of the observed earnings gaps between men and women does not imply causality because:

A) these policies mainly focused on combating discrimination against Black workers.
B) the wage gap between men and women has not narrowed substantially.
C) the policies were largely ineffective.
D) many other developments were occurring as well.
E) discrimination against female workers is based on statistics rather than prejudices.

Question 6

Recent studies have focused on rather than as an explanation for differential outcomes of Black and White workers.

A) systematic differences that Black and White children face in school quality and human capital accrued within the family;labor-market discrimination
B) systematic differences that Black and White children face in school quality and human capital accrued within the family;premarket discrimination
C) productivity differences;the aggregate wage gap productivity differences;the aggregate wage gap
D) productivity differences;premarket discrimination
E) productivity differences;labor-market discrimination

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT true of the Duncan index of dissimilarity,D?

A) This index is used to compare occupational distributions.
B) The index can be used to compare any number of groups in any number of occupations.
C)
D) The dissimilarity between distributions increases with D.
E) Distributions are identical if D is equal to zero.

Question 8

Until the mid-1950s,_______ led to the separation of Blacks and Whites in much of the South and _______ hindered women's progress toward parity with men.

A) Jim Crow;protective legislation
B) Jim Crow;productivity differences
C) the separate but equal doctrine;productivity differences
D) productivity differences;protective legislation
E) productivity differences;Jim Crow

Question 9

Affirmative action was established under _______.

A) The Equal Pay Act of 1963
B) The Civil Rights Act of 1964
C) Executive Order 11246
D) The Civil Rights Act of 1991
E) The Equal Rights Act of 1991

Question 10

Today,the median full-time weekly earnings of women relative to men is about:

A) 50 percent.
B) 55 percent.
C) 60 percent.
D) 70 percent.
E) 80 percent.

Question 11

The ratios of full-time earnings of Black men and women relative to White men have increased sharply over the past _______years.Some economists have suggested that this improvement stems from,among other reasons,_______.

A) 20;laws designed to combat discrimination
B) 100;laws designed to combat discrimination
C) 50;the tight labor market of the 1960s
D) 40;the decreased educational attainment of White men
E) 100;the tight labor market of the 1980s

Question 12

The _______ sought to ensure equal pay for equal work.

A) The Equal Pay Act of 1963
B) The Civil Rights Act of 1964
C) Executive Order 11246
D) The Civil Rights Act of 1991
E) The Equal Rights Act of 1991

Question 13

Some economists argue that selective withdrawal has caused:

A) an increase in the observed average relative wages of those Black men who remain employed.
B) White men to leave the labor market if they cannot find a job that offers at least their reservation wage.
C) the labor force participation rate of men to be higher than the labor force participation rate of women.
D) the rate of unemployment to be higher for Black women than for Black men.
E) the wages of Black men to rise quickly relative to those of White men from 1963-1973.

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT true of the Oaxaca transformation?

A) The Oaxaca transformation compares the actual earnings of the average majority member with the hypothetical earnings of the average minority member were he endowed with the same average productivity as the majority member.
B) The Oaxaca transformation allows for an appropriate apples-to-apples comparison.
C) The residual of the Oaxaca transformation captures the extent of wage discrimination.
D) The observed wage gap of the Oaxaca transformation is equivalent to the productivity differences between the majority and minority groups.
E) The Oaxaca transformation calculates predicted earnings for an average minority member.

Question 15

_______ prohibits sexual discrimination in the workplace.

A) The Equal Pay Act of 1963
B) The Civil Rights Act of 1964
C) Executive Order 11246
D) The Civil Rights Act of 1991
E) The Equal Rights Act of 1991

Question 16

Affirmative action _______ appear to be successful in achieving its intended goal of increasing the employment of _______.

A) does;minorities but not women
B) does;minorities and women
C) does;women but not minorities
D) does not;women but not minorities
E) does not;minorities and women