Showing papers in "Journal of Human Resources in 1981"
TL;DR: This paper used computerized personnel microdata on the white male managerial and professional employees at a major U.S. corporation to address the following question: Can the additional earnings which are associated with more labor market experience really be explained by higher productivity at the same point in time?
Abstract: This study uses computerized personnel microdata on the white male managerial and professional employees at a major U.S. corporation to address the following question: Can the additional earnings which are associated with more labor market experience at a point in time really be explained by higher productivity at the same point in time? Our answer to this question, based on both cross-sectional and longitudinal information, is that performance plays a substantially smaller role in explaining cross-sectional experience-earnings differentials and earnings growth than is claimed by those who have adopted the human capital explanation of the experience-earnings profile. This response depends critically on our assumption that the performance ratings which supervisors give to their white male managerial and professional subordinates adequately reflect the subordinates' relative productivity in the year of assessment; we present a great deal of evidence which strongly supports this assumption.
390Â citations
TL;DR: This paper showed that if labor demand for speakers of one language exceeds the supply of native speakers, bilingual workers will generally come from other language groups, and there will be a wage premium for speaking the "excess demand" language but no additional premium for being bilingual.
Abstract: This paper presents a simple theory of wage differentials among language groups. In multilingual societies, if labor demand for speakers of one language exceeds the supply of native speakers, bilingual workers will generally come from other language groups. There will be a wage premium for speaking the "excess demand" language but no additional premium for being bilingual. This pattern is generally consistent with evidence from the 1971 Canadian Census. In Quebec there were substantial economic rewards to learning French or English for men who spoke neither, and substantial rewards to speaking English for native French speakers. Even after learning English, however, and holding other factors constant, native French-speaking men earned lower wages than monolingual English men. There was no significant wage premium for native English speakers who learned French. Outside Quebec, monolingual English men earned significantly higher wages than men whose native language was neither French nor English, other factors constant, but there were no significant differences in wage rates between them and bilingual English or monolingual or bilingual French workers.
165Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the wage differentials received by workers on hazardous jobs and confirmed the hypothesis that workers are compensated for the risk of experiencing a nonfatal or fatal accident.
Abstract: This study examines the wage differentials received by workers on hazardous jobs. The hypothesis that workers are compensated for the risk of experiencing a nonfatal or fatal accident was confirmed using BLS industry accident rates and a sample of full-time workers. The estimated value of a life at the average risk level for the sample implied by the estimated risk premium was about $3.2 million. However, the estimated value of a life declined as risk increased. This was explained by the fact that individuals found on riskier jobs are collectively less risk averse than individuals on safer jobs. An important interaction was also found between fatal accident risk and union status. Compared to nonunion workers, union members received substantially higher fatal accident premiums. These premiums imply that union members collectively place a higher value on life. Various explanations for this difference are discussed.
158Â citations
TL;DR: Demographic differences in patterns of employment variation over the business cycle are examined in this paper, and three primary conclusions emerge: both participation and unemployment must be considered in any analysis of cyclical changes in the labor market.
Abstract: Demographic differences in patterns of employment variation over the business cycle are examined in this paper. Three primary conclusions emerge. First, both participation and unemployment must be considered in any analysis of cyclical changes in the labor market. Second, young people bear a disproportionate share of cyclical employment variation. Third, failure to consider participation has led to undue pessimism about the effect of aggregate demand policy on high unemployment groups. If participation did not surge, reduction in overall unemployment to its 1969 level would reduce the unemployment of almost all demographic groups to very low levels.
140Â citations
120Â citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the mobility patterns of teachers in one large urban school district for the period from 1965 to 1974, using logit analysis, and found that teacher seniority and changes in student enrollments were much more important in explaining transfers and terminations in the 1970s than in the 1960s.
Abstract: The mobility patterns of teachers in one large urban school district are examined for the period from 1965 to 1974, using logit analysis. We find that teacher seniority and changes in student enrollments are much more important in explaining transfers and terminations in the 1970s than in the 1960s. The reason for this is that pattern of mobility no longer reflect primarily teacher preferences. Increasingly, they reflect the pattern of declining enrollments and the operation of rules that govern the disposition of surplus teachers. This change has affected the careers of teachers, the learning of children, and the fiscal stability of school districts.
104Â citations
TL;DR: Evidence is presented which suggests that an empirical test of the supplier induced demand (SID) hypothesis of the type traditionally performed may not in fact be feasible with cross-sectional aggregate data such as is usually used.
Abstract: This paper explores the issues and pitfalls encountered when attempting to test empirically the hypothesis that physician, hospital, or any other input supply level induces increasing demand for health services in the strict sense of demand shift and, through that, increased demand for the input in question. Evidence is presented which suggests that an empirical test of the supplier induced demand (SID) hypothesis of the type traditionally performed may not in fact be feasible with cross-sectional aggregate data such as is usually used.
92Â citations
TL;DR: This article analyzed determinants of entry and exit transitions in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and found that state-controlled policy parameters such as the AFDC "guarantee" (the payment received when earnings are zero) and the "entry income limit" have a significant but asymmetric impact on these transitions.
Abstract: This study analyzes determinants of entry and exit transitions in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The principal findings are that state-controlled policy parameters such as the AFDC "guarantee" (the payment received when earnings are zero) and the "entry income limit" (the income level at which families become eligible for AFDC payments) have a significant but asymmetric impact on these transitions. In addition, evidence on the relationship between wages and such transitions tends to support efforts at reducing welfare dependency through programs which raise wages.
76Â citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that workers receiving notice may not search, whereas others may search even without advance notice, and that the effect of pre-unemployment search on the general labor market process is not well understood.
Abstract: Preunemployment search is the fundamental labor market process generating beneficial effects of advance notice. Yet theory indicates that workers receiving notice may not search, whereas others may search even without advance notice. Our weighted results ...
67Â citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that young Black men experience more joblessness than their white counterparts because they have priced themselves out of the labor market, and they argue that reservation wages of jobless young black men, what they...
Abstract: I argue against the popular view that young Black men experience more joblessness than their White counterparts because they have priced themselves out of the labor market. The seemingly excessive reservation wages of jobless young Black men, what they ...
63Â citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors test the proposition that interaction between education and socioeconomic status (SES) has a negative impact on earnings using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSDI).
Abstract: Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we test the proposition that interaction between education and socioeconomic status (SES) has a negative impact on earnings. Contrary to findings by Papanicolaou and Psacharopoulos for the United Kingdom, no ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the relationship between contraceptive self-efficacy and contraceptive use, measured one year later, among adolescent boys and girls, and obtained data from two waves of the restricted use sample of the National...
Abstract: This research investigates the relationship between contraceptive self-efficacy and contraceptive use, measured one year later, among adolescent boys and girls. Data are obtained from the two waves of the restricted use sample of the National ...
TL;DR: The authors investigates the magnitude and character of geographical wage differentials in labor markets and finds that the sizable differences discovered there are then related to the existing, and highly simplified, models of labor market differences.
Abstract: There are three distinct research traditions in the analysis of individual earnings determination: human capital, or earnings function, analyses; aggregate wage analyses; and labor demand analyses. An important and incongruous aspect of each is the treatment of geographical differences in labor markets. This paper first investigates the magnitude and character of geographical wage differentials. The sizable differences discovered there are then related to the existing, and highly simplified, models of labor market differences. While the two major classes of models (compensating differentials and labor demand) differ significantly in assumptions and implications, it is impossible to distinguish adequately between them. There appears to be a clear need for more structural analyses of labor market operations.
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of college tuition costs on early career educational, occupational and economic achievements were estimated for a national sample of black and white college students, and the findings suggest that attending a relatively high tuition college has a...
Abstract: The effects of college tuition costs on early career educational, occupational and economic achievements were estimated for a national sample of black and white college students. The findings suggest that attending a relatively high tuition college has a ...
TL;DR: Empirical evidence supports the hypotheses that faculty research activity contributes positively to the quality of graduate training, and that thequality of the input to a PhD program-that is, theQuality of entering students-is significantly related to quality of the PhDs produced by that program.
Abstract: This study examines the relationships between program size, the quality of entrants and of the faculty, the faculty's published research output, and the average quality of the PhDs during the 1960s trained by the top 36 U.S. graduate programs in economics. The empirical evidence supports the hypotheses (1) that faculty research activity contributes positively to the quality of graduate training, and (2) that the quality of the input to a PhD program-that is, the quality of entering students-is significantly related to quality of the PhDs produced by that program.
TL;DR: In this article, direct evidence on reservation wages reported in Great Britain in 1982 to assess whether such asking prices are ''high'' and whether variations in these reservation wages are related to differences in measures of the subjective
Abstract: The paper studies direct evidence on reservation wages reported in Great Britain in 1982 to assess (1) whether such asking prices are `high' and (2) whether variations in these reservation wages are related to differences in measures of the subjective
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed that the earnings of career employees are influenced by a different set of parameters from those of non-career employees, and tested this proposition by using a matched employer-employee sample within the econometric...
Abstract: This study proposes that the earnings of career employees are influenced by a different set of parameters from the earnings of non-career employees. The above proposition is tested by using a matched employer-employee sample within the econometric ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared a traditional hospital-based approach to treating the mentally ill with a nontraditional community based approach, highlighting the very different forms taken by the effects of the alternative therapies.
Abstract: This study is the first benefit-cost analysis of a controlled (random assignment) experiment in the mental health field. It compares, in terms of an unusually wide variety of "tangible" and "intangible" forms of benefits and costs, a traditional hospital-based approach to treating the mentally ill with a nontraditional community-based approach. The study highlights the very different forms taken by the effects of the alternative therapies. Thus it shows how distorted conclusions can result from a failure of benefit-cost analyses to measure benefits and costs comprehensively; a change inform can be mistaken for a change in level of costs or benefits.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present results of participation regressions of married women for these three ethnic groups and for American Indians Chicanos Cubans Japanese Chinese and Filipinos as well.
Abstract: Bowen and Finegan [2] Cain [3] Sweet [16] and Bell [1] have analyzed female labor force participation rates of blacks and whites and Cooney [8] has analyzed them for Puerto Ricans. The purpose of this note is to present results of participation regressions of married women for these three ethnic groups and for American Indians Chicanos Cubans Japanese Chinese and Filipinos as well. Although Fogel [9] Lyle [14] Niemi [15] Carliner [4] Chiswick [6 7] and Gwartney and Long [10] have studied the economic behavior of nonblack minority men only Cooney has worked with data on nonblack minority women. (excerpt)
TL;DR: Turnover is important for both males and females, although the wage discount for a high quit probability is larger for females as mentioned in this paper, and when differences in turnover are taken into account, the portion of the male/female earnings gap "explainable" by human capital and socioeconomic variables increases by a factor of one-half.
Abstract: Economic theory suggests that wages vary with turnover rates. Because of hiring and training costs, workers viewed as likely to quit can anticipate a wage discount. Workers in industries with high layoff rates may demand a compensating wage premium. By pooling time-series industry turnover rates, by sex, with 1970 Census data, we are able to examine the effect of past industry turnover on current earnings. Turnover proves to be important for both males and females, although the wage discount for a high quit probability is larger for females. When differences in turnover are taken into account, the portion of the male/female earnings gap "explainable" by human capital and socioeconomic variables increases by a factor of one-half.
TL;DR: In this paper, a human capital model was used to investigate the effects of occupational licensing and occupational certification on the wage rates of individual women, and they found that licensed women earn about 20 percent more per hour after controlling for personal characteristics, regional location, human capital factors, and occupational category.
Abstract: In this paper, a human capital model is used to investigate the effects of occupational licensing and occupational certification on the wage rates of individual women. When we analyzed micro data available from the National Longitudinal Surveys of mature and young women, we found that licensed women earn about 20 percent more per hour after controlling for personal characteristics, regional location, human capital factors, and occupational category. No statistically significant premium was found for certified women.
TL;DR: In "The Varied Economic Returns to Postsecondary Education: New Evidence from the Class of 1972," an article recently published in the Journal of Human Resources (Volume 28, no. 2) Norton Grubb reaches two main conclusions: (1) students who enroll in two-...
Abstract: In "The Varied Economic Returns to Postsecondary Education: New Evidence from the Class of 1972," an article recently published in the Journal of Human Resources (Volume 28, no. 2) Norton Grubb reaches two main conclusions: (1) students who enroll in two-...
TL;DR: This paper surveys the emerging literature on financing and demand for mental health services and concludes that the responsiveness of demand for outpatient mental health care is greater than the responsiveness for general medical services.
Abstract: This paper surveys the emerging literature on financing and demand for mental health services. Most studies at present simply report the cost experience of members of an insurance pool, and research on demand behavior has been very limited. Nevertheless, some conclusion are possible. First, the responsiveness of demand for outpatient mental health care is greater than the responsiveness of demand for general medical services. Second, demand for mental health services grows over time among members of an insurance pool, even as coverage remains stable. Third, demand of lower income groups is more responsive to insurance than is demand of upper income groups. New research should focus on the effect of financing policy on the choice of setting for care.
TL;DR: The results of this exercise support the applicability of traditional economics to this sector of the economy and examine the nature of earnings cycles in medicine.
Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between the market for medical care and the market for medical education. Within a standard supply and demand framework, the capacity of medical schools is considered as an endogenous element within a complete structural system of the market for physicians' services. The parameters of the model are estimated using data from the postwar period. The estimated system is then simulated both to compare it to alternative time-series forecasting approaches and to examine the nature of earnings cycles in medicine. The results of this exercise support the applicability of traditional economics to this sector of the economy.
TL;DR: This article developed a methodology that takes implicit assumptions about the future growth of transfers, the target efficiency of these transfers, and their impact on the labor supply of the poor, and showed that unless steps are taken to change the structure of labor markets, the 1980s will either be another decade of growing real transfers per capita or a time during which there will be limited reductions in poverty.
Abstract: Previous projections of poverty have had to make implicit assumptions, often unstated, about the future growth of transfers, the target efficiency of these transfers, and their impact on the labor supply of the poor. This paper develops a methodology that takes these factors explicitly into account. Projections of the proportion of households with earnings below the poverty line (the earnings poor) and the proportion with total incomes below the poverty line (the posttransfer poor) are made. These projections suggest that unless steps are taken to change the structure of labor markets facing the poor, the 1980s will either be another decade of growing real transfers per capita or a time during which there will be limited reductions in poverty.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed estimates of the expected net present value of postsecondary education for a sample of high school graduates, based exclusively on individual expectations of the relevant costs and benefits at the time of...
Abstract: From a probit model of enrollments, estimates of the expected net present value of postsecondary education are developed for a sample of high school graduates, based exclusively on individual expectations of the relevant costs and benefits at the time of ...
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of Supported Work on a sample of 1620 long-term AFDC recipients are analyzed, and they find positive, statistically significant effects on the postprogram earnings of experimentals.
Abstract: The effects of Supported Work on a sample of 1620 long-term AFDC recipients are analyzed in this paper. We find positive, statistically significant effects on the postprogram earnings of experimentals. Although the experimental effect declines sharply over time at one of the seven sites, at the others the effect increases somewhat faster than the rate of inflation. The postprogram effects are concentrated disproportionately in public-sector employment, but not in CETA/WIN positions. The increased earnings of experimentals leads to significant payment reductions in welfare. In the long run, we estimate that the experimental effect on earnings will be $53 per month for earnings and $22 per month for disposable income.