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Showing papers in "Journal of Human Resources in 1972"


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this paper, a tripartite body composed of the government, the TUC, and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) should determine the criteria, review all proposals for pay increases, and be legally empowered to refuse increases.
Abstract: While this seems reasonable, many of the cases investigated showed that low pay and high earnings often went together, so that help to the low paid was aid to the high earners. Again, the policy allowed exceptional pay increases in order to secure change in the distribution of manpower, which was rarely achieved, and to increase productivity. Yet, as he shows, the productivity criterion was often used as a rationalization for pay awards which could not be prevented or which, had they been stopped, would have occasioned politically embarrassing and economically damaging strikes. Although Clegg has a fine time deriding the anomalies in the policy, his comments are unfair. The policy did not create the anomalies but merely highlighted those which existed. The intractability of the problems facing the policy-the piecemeal approach of the PIB; the different criteria applied by the PIB, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the government; the downgrading of the criterion of comparability by the government in 1968; the inability of the government to control prices; and the fact that many negotiators were allowed to go their own wayleft the policy in shreds. It is Clegg's main purpose to pick up and put together the pieces. First, he proposes a pay standstill and the government's taking steps to prevent excessive price rises. Next, he advocates a comprehensive overhauling of plant pay structures. He is rightly concerned with closing the earnings gap, for as he points out, it is relatively easy for an incomes policy to control rates but it is earnings which are crucial. Following this, criteria should be established for the payment of pay increases. He wants a list of those entitled to increases to keep them in line with the general rise in prices, a list of those entitled to more, and a ceiling established for those in the middle. He seems to disregard, however, the fact that even keeping wage increases down to the level of price rises is itself inflationary. However, Clegg suggests that a tripartite body composed of the government, the TUC, and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) should determine the criteria, review all proposals for pay increases, and be legally empowered to refuse increases. This, as he admits, is a tall order. Its effectiveness will depend on the willing cooperation and consent not only of the CBI and the TUC but also of all those, including junior managers and workers, involved in pay negotiations. Even more utopian is his assumption that we can devise, have accepted, and implement a new national ranking of the pay appropriate to different jobs and occupations. As he shows in his analysis of the last policy, many increases were conceded not because they were fair or because they were based on a strong economic case but because of the intervention of the politicians. This presumably would happen in any incomes policy and hence erode public confidence in the fairness of the policy which Clegg considers to be all important. But then, as Max Weber once said, \"man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible.\

2,150 citations


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors model the role of the labor market in the transmission and acquisition of skills and knowledge, based on the hypothesis that indivduals learn from their working experiences.
Abstract: This paper models the role of the labor market in the transmission and acquisition of skills and knowledge, based on the hypothesis that indivduals learn from their working experiences. The problem is cast in terms of an implicit market for learning opportunities that is dual to the market for jobs. Optimum choices in this setting have implications for the evolution of earnings and occupational patterns over the workers' lifetimes and provide the basis for a theory of occupational mobility. Several implications of the model, including those for occupational discrimination against minorities, are also discussed.

494 citations


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this paper, an enrollment model for higher education is formulated with demand being subject to nonprice rationing by academic admission standards, and cross-sectional differences in student enrollment are related to variables representing both demand factors and supply-side constraints.
Abstract: Based upon human capital theory, an enrollment model for higher education is formulated with demand being subject to nonprice rationing by academic admission standards. Cross-sectional differences in student enrollment are related to variables representing both demand factors and supply-side constraints. Two questionnaire surveys - Project Talent's national cross-sectional sample in the early 1960s and a recent survey of 4,000 high school seniors in the Boston SMSA - provide sufficient data to test the theoretical hypothesis derived. At both levels of aggregation, strong structural relationships between college attendance and socioeconomic status emerge. Stratifying the on-going group by socioeconomic quartiles yields insights into the distributional aspects of higher education enrollment.

94 citations


Journal Article•DOI•

63 citations


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: This paper argued that an opportunity [for education], where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms, and that the state should guarantee that each child in the Illinois public schools receive a level of expenditures determined only by his educational needs.
Abstract: This paper relates to the "equal protection" issue in education: "an opportunity [for education], where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms."' Resource allocation aspects of educational policy are increasingly being argued in the courts. In Mclnnis v. Shapiro,2 parents of children in the Illinois public schools brought a class action which argued (unsuccessfully) that the state should guarantee that each child in the Illinois public schools receive a level of expenditures determined only by his educational needs. In Serrano v. Priest, the request is more modest.3 The court declared unconstitutional the corre-

45 citations


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: Taeuber et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the migration of Negroes from the South to the northern cities and concluded that the migrants are likely to be better off than the nonmigrants, at least once an initial adjustment period is passed.
Abstract: Among Negroes living in an SMSA outside the South in 1960, those born in the South had higher incomes and less unemployment than those born in the North with or without standardizing for differences in age, years of school, and a number of other variables. Recent migrants, defined as those living in an SMSA in 1960 but not in 1955, did have lower incomes than those who were in SMSAs in both years, although the differential is larger for whites than for Negroes. Several possible explanations for these results are discussed. Economists often look at migration as an investment and compare the income of migrants with that of people who remained behind. This study focuses on a different aspect of migration. It compares the migrants with those who were already at the destination point. Specifically, the study examines the migration of Negroes from the South to the northern cities and, The author is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame. * The statistical part of this study was performed at Rutgers University pursuant to a contract with the Office of Economic Opportunity. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the United States government. The research also was supported in part by funds granted to the Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, by the Office of Economic Opportunity pursuant to the provisions of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The author is indebted to Kate Tallmadge, Mildred Evans, and Burt Barnow for computer programming, to Ronald Rudolph for research assistance, and to Patricia Koshel and Bette Mahoney of OEO and his colleagues at Rutgers and Wisconsin for advice and encouragement. Particularly helpful comments were received from Irwin Garfinkel, Michael Taussig, the referees, and from Kenneth Brown and other participants at a research seminar at Notre Dame. The Journal of Human Resources * VII * 4 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.158 on Tue, 15 Nov 2016 03:56:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 412 1 THE JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES for all regions, from rural to urban areas. The income and labor-force status of these migrants are compared with the corresponding values for Negroes who were already in the cities. By doing such a study, we can obtain at least a partial answer to the question, "How many of the problems facing northern (or urban) Negroes can be attributed directly to their migration from the South (or from rural areas)?" If we find that the migrants are much worse off than nonmigrants, then more resources probably should be allocated to special organizations in the cities to assist the newcomers. It might also be very important to improve the quality of schooling and counseling in the areas from which the migrants came. The results of this study indicate, however, that the migrants are likely to be better off than the nonmigrants, at least once an initial adjustment period is passed.l If the migrants are better off than the long-term urban residents, then efforts to improve the situation of northern Negroes should probably focus on the general issue of discrimination rather than on special programs to assist migrants. In addition, we should not be too optimistic that the position of northern Negroes will automatically improve as the migration slows down. This last statement must be qualified, however, since a decrease in the size of the migration might still improve the position of northern Negroes if the relative size of the Negro and white communities has an important effect on the opportunities available to Negroes. I. DATA AND THE MEASURES OF MIGRATION STATUS This study is based on data from the 1/1,000 sample of the 1960 Census. With these data we can look at both lifetime and recent migration. Lifetime migrants are Negroes who were born in the South but who are living in Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) outside the South in 1 Some earlier studies that have made somewhat similar comparisons, often as a side issue in connection with some other topic, are Karl E. and Alma F. Taeuber, Negroes in Cities: Residential Segregation and Neighborhood Change (Chicago: Aldine, 1965); Richard F. Wertheimer II, The Monetary Rewards of Migration within the U.S. (Washington: Urban Institute, 1970); John F. Kain and Joseph J. Persky, "The North's Stake in Southern Rural Poverty," in Rural Poverty in the United States (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1968); Donald and Deborah Freedman, "Farm-Reared Elements in the Non-Farm Population," Rural Sociology 21 (March 1965), pp. 50-61: Melvin Lurie and Elton Rayack, "Racial Differences in Migration and Job Search: A Case Study," Southern Economic Journal 33 (July 1966), pp. 81-95; and John B. Lansing and James M. Morgan, "The Effect of Geographic Mobility on Income," Journal of Human Resources 2 (Fall 1967), pp. 449-60. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.158 on Tue, 15 Nov 2016 03:56:52 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

42 citations


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: The purpose of this paper is to identify the optimal role of paramedical personnel and to assess the impact of efficient delegation of tasks on the productivity of the physician, his opportunities for leisure, and the cost of care.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of employing "physicians' assistants" in delivering primary medical care. It seeks to identify the optimal role of paramedical personnel and to assess the impact of efficient delegation of tasks on the productivity of the physician, his opportunities for leisure, and the cost of care. The technical opportunities for delegation and the specific demands for medical services imposed on the primary care practice are identified. These data are then analyzed in an activity analysis model of the practice to identify and assess the implications of efficient patterns of delegation.

35 citations


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: This paper found that teacher salary expenditures per pupil are lower in low-income and non-white neighborhoods, and that the level of both teacher experience and verbal ability is also lower there.
Abstract: Educational resources are distributed unequally within large American cities, with poor and nonwhite neighborhoods receiving less than their share. An empirical analysis of data for nine large cities shows that teacher salary expenditures per pupil are lower in low-income and non-white neighborhoods, and that the level of both teacher experience and verbal ability is also lower there. Much of this inequality can be explained by the teacher assignment system: a single city-wide salary schedule, the allocation of attractive teaching posts to the most experienced teachers, and, in some cities, informal pressures that are exerted to keep black teachers in black schools.

35 citations


Journal Article•DOI•

29 citations


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors extended knowledge of the extent of such discrimination in the labor market by focusing on the public sector, specifically federal white-collar workers, and employed regression analysis, the returns to several measures of worker productivity are investigated, and the average salary differential between whites and nonwhites, males and females with these variables held constant are measured.
Abstract: The issue of labor market discrimination has attracted considerable attention in the literature. This study extends knowledge of the extent of such discrimination in the labor market by focusing on the public sector, specifically federal white-collar workers. Employing regression analysis, the returns to several measures of worker productivity are investigated, and the average salary differential between whites and nonwhites, males and females with these variables held constant are measured. The sample of 950 workers is analyzed in the aggregate; then several subsamples are analyzed separately. The results obtained are compared and conclusions drawn as to the effectiveness of federal personnel policy in eliminating labor market discrimination.

27 citations


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: It is suggested that the development of certain requisite entrepreneurial characteristics, relating to performance in the organizational and technological spheres, is being impeded by traditional socio-cultural factors common to all of Nigeria's ethnic groups.
Abstract: alone among economists in his neglect of overriding events in favor of less important issues which his own peculiar expertise permits him to handle successfully. In this regard, it is worthwhile pointing out that the case studies, examples, and data on which Kilby relies frequently are exposed, analyzed, and evaluated in the light of economic theory. This is a commendable practice and a satisfying performance. Although Nigera generally has been considered one of the African states whose resources, population, and history make it most likely to succeed, the record of industrialization has not been impressive. Indigenous, Levantine, and western firms are represented in the small assemblage of trading companies and manufacturers. The government is a frequent intervener in the market both to help emerging enterprise and to participate in likely pieces of the action. Results, however, have been less than overwhelming. Kilby writes: In brief, what is being suggested here is that the development of certain requisite entrepreneurial characteristics, relating to performance in the organizational and technological spheres, is being impeded by traditional socio-cultural factors common to all of Nigeria's ethnic groups. The personality characteristics which these sociocultural factors tend to produce are manifest in the realm of economic activities not only among entrepreneurs, but among supervisors, civil servants, Nigerian managers in the public sector, etc.


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: Workers who elected the interplant transfer option increased their annual earnings by more than $2,000, suggesting that government support of measures to increase the use of interplant transfers should be considered.
Abstract: Pre- and post-shutdown annual earnings reported to the Social Security Administration are used to measure the economic impact of plant closure on the income of workers exercising different vocational choices. Workers who sought new jobs in the local labor market suffered substantial reductions in post-shutdown annual earnings. With the influence of age, skill, sex, seniority, education, race, and pre-shutdown earnings held constant, short-term training did not improve the situation significantly. Workers who elected the interplant transfer option increased their annual earnings by more than $2,000, suggesting that government support of measures to increase the use of interplant transfers should be considered.

Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: The authors found that high-productivity groups benefit most, per dollar of expenditure, from the provision of rehabilitation services, while low-productive groups benefit as much, as do higher productivity groups.
Abstract: This study estimates benefit-cost relationships for many subgroups of disabled persons, using regression analysis. The results sharply contradict the findings of a previous study, which suggested that low-productivity groups benefit as much, per dollar of expenditure, as do higher productivity groups. This study finds that, except for the variable of race, the relationship between rehabilitation outcome and variables such as age, sex, etc., are similar to the relationships often observed between these variables and labor market earnings of the general population. In short, high-productivity groups benefit most, per dollar of expenditure, from the provision of rehabilitation services.

Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this article, a special data source that includes the March 1967 Current Population Survey allowed all three types of variables to appear in the same regression, and separate regressions were performed on youths who differ by labor force status and by educational attainment.
Abstract: A youth's decision to attend school depends on individual, family, and area forces. A special data source that includes the March 1967 Current Population Survey allowed all three types of variables to appear in the same regression. Separate regressions were performed on youths who differ by labor force status and by educational attainment. Among the noteworthy findings are (1) that SMSA labor market variables exert some effects on school activity through the full-time labor market and other effects through the part-time labor market, and (2) that race does not generally play a significant independent role in the school decision.

Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this article, a relatively recent revision of the traditional theory of consumer choice is used to analyze some of the phenomena that have been observed in the medical care market, focusing on the type of medical care delivery system selected by the consumer.
Abstract: The economic aspects of the medical care market are not easily analyzed with traditional economic theory. In this article, a relatively recent revision of the traditional theory of consumer choice is used to analyze some of the phenomena that have been observed in this market. The comparative static implications of the model are discussed in detail and the implications of the model in the medical care market are studied. Particular attention is devoted to the type of medical care delivery system selected by the consumer.

Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: The authors found that the wage structure for unskilled and clerical workers was largely unchanged between 1960 and 1964, but narrowed significantly thereafter, supporting the view that unemployment during the 1960s was largely concentrated among lower skilled occupations.
Abstract: In this study based on unpublished wage data collected from a select group of Boston area firms, it was found that the wage structure for unskilled and clerical workers was largely unchanged between 1960 and 1964, but narrowed significantly thereafter The fact that the Boston unemployment rate was nearly constant during 1960-64 and decreased during 1965-69 suggests a positive relationship between wage dispersion and unemployment Interfirm wage differentials for skilled workers remained largely unchanged throughout the ten-year period, a finding which supports the view that unemployment during the 1960s was largely concentrated among lower skilled occupations The results have implications for the possible success of a new wage-price guideposts policy



Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this article, personal savings rates required to provide an average worker with adequate retirement funds are examined, and the influence of various definitions of adequacy, inflation, and economic growth on the magnitude of the retirement preparation task are examined.
Abstract: Over the years there has been a general recognition that serious economic problems have plagued and continue to plague the majority of aged persons in the U.S. and other countries. This article examines the personal savings rates required to provide an average worker with adequate retirement funds. The influence of (1) various definitions of adequacy, (2) inflation, and (3) economic growth on the magnitude of the retirement preparation task are examined. With this perspective, the current roles played by the social security system and private pensions are assessed.

Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: By discovering patterns of behavior among medical categories that have been obscured in aggregate demand studies, this study has important implications regarding the existence and extent of "moral hazard," the effectiveness of coinsurance, and the effect of extended-care facilities on resource allocation.
Abstract: Cross-section data are used to determine the effect of third-party payments on the length of stay in a hospital for 22 separate illnesses or conditions, thereby providing a test of the effect of third-party payments on resource allocation to hospitals. Also, estimates are made of price elasticities of demand for the separate illnesses or conditions. This study, by discovering patterns of behavior among medical categories that have been obscured in aggregate demand studies, has important implications regarding the existence and extent of "moral hazard," the effectiveness of coinsurance, and the effect of extended-care facilities on resource allocation.

Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: This article found that the nonwhite/white earnings ratio was greater for college graduates than for any other educational grouping, and this was true for all sex, region, and age groupings.
Abstract: Both laymen and scholars have often argued that even well qualified blacks will be relegated to low skill, menial jobs because employment discrimination is most intense at the top of the job hierarchy. This article presents both theoretical and empirical data that are inconsistent with this theory of the pattern of employment discrimination. After adjustment for achievement, the nonwhite/white earnings ratio was found to be greater for college graduates than for any other educational grouping. This was true for all sex, region, and age groupings.


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this article, the labor market for engineers is analyzed by constructing and estimating separate demand and supply schedules both ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares are employed and the cross-price elasticities of demand are used as a measure of the complementarity or substitutability of engineers and other factor inputs.
Abstract: The labor market for engineers is analyzed by constructing and estimating separate demand and supply schedules Both ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares are employed Estimated cross-price elasticities of demand are used as a measure of the complementarity or substitutability of engineers and other factor inputs The following conclusions emerge: The relative wage elasticity of demand is not a significant determinant of engineering employment though, with minor exception, research and development expenditures are The supply of engineers tends to be responsive to absolute wage differences Related occupations requiring less formal training than engineers tend to be complements rather than substitutes

Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: The answer, based on a sample of 19 clinics, has been negative and a more efficient organization of the clinic's resources is likely to reduce the cost of service per patient by increasing the number of patients served without any change in the Clinic's expenditure.
Abstract: Government support for family planning services has been growing in recent years as the public became increasingly aware of the benefits. The rapid expansion of publicly subsidized family planning clinics has increased their demand for qualified personnel. But it is questionable whether the clinics are employing the feasible skill-mix that is economically justifiable. The answer based on a sample of 19 clinics has been negative. In 17 clinics the marginal cost per patient of the physicians services was much lower than the corresponding cost of services rendered by the clinics other personnel. This finding based on a small sample should not be considered definitive but in view of the rising cost of services rendered by medical and paramedical personnel it cannot be ignored. A more efficient organization of the clinics resources is likely to reduce the cost of service per patient by increasing the number of patients served without any change in the clinics expenditure.(AUTHORS MODIFIED)

Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this paper, the differential impact of the Medicaid program on state incomes in 1967-68 was analyzed in terms of the perceived original intent of the program planners and it was found that although the program favors the poor in all states with Title XIX plans, it does so at the expense of extreme horizontal inequity, and that federal incentives for the development of comprehensive state Medicaid programs are inadequate to insure an equitable system for the distribution of program benefits and costs.
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the differential impact of the Medicaid program on state incomes in 1967-68 Benefits and costs of the program are calculated for each state and the results are evaluated in terms of the perceived original intent of the program planners It was found that although the program favors the poor in all states with Title XIX plans, it does so at the expense of extreme horizontal inequity The conclusion is that federal incentives for the development of comprehensive state Medicaid programs are inadequate to insure an equitable system for the distribution of program benefits and costs


Journal Article•DOI•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the desirability of imposing a court order which would require that the District of Columbia equalize teacher expenditures per pupil (within a 5 percent range) at all times and among all schools within the District elementary system.
Abstract: Few would quarrel with the objective of providing equality of educational opportunity for all children. Interesting debate, then, concerns implementation: Will a particular scheme that aims to promote equality actually do so in practice? And at what cost in terms of other desirable objectives? This paper considers the desirability of imposing a court order which would require that the District of Columbia equalize teacher expenditures per pupil (within a 5 percent range) at all times and among all schools within the District elementary system. Earlier school cases involving the charge of discrimination within a single school system had looked to integration as a way of insuring equality. But the District-once a dual-school-system city-had already undergone an integration process. Further integration could not be expected to produce significant change, however, for enrollment in the system as a whole had become 95 percent black. Most of the debate surrounding the case has focused on the legal issue of the court's right to impose such a global order, as well as the question of whether or not expenditure differentials by color or by income actually existed. Much less debated and studied has been the question of whether or not the implementation of such an order would, in practice, significantly reduce the amount of unfair variation in the quality of schooling received.