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62 publications found, searching for 'Ajit Zacharias '

Working Paper No. 447 May 03, 2006
Household Wealth and the Measurement of Economic Well-Being in the United States
Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

The standard official measure of household economic well-being in the United States is gross money income. The general consensus is that such measures are limited because they ignore other crucial determinants of well-being. We modify the standard measure to account for one such determinant: household wealth. We then analyze the level and distribution of economic […]
Download Working Paper No. 447 PDF (310.49 KB)
Research Project Report May 01, 2005
Interim Report
Hyunsub Kum, Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

This interim report compares the LIMEW and official measures of economic well-being for 1989–2002, a period marked by the economic boom of the late 1990s and a mild recession in 2001–02. All measures show that the well-being of the average American household was significantly higher in 2000 than in 1989, with most of the improvement […]
Download LIMEW Report, May 2005 PDF (342.81 KB)
Research Project Report March 01, 2005
Economic Well-Being in US Regions and the Red and Blue States
Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

This report analyzes regional aspects of economic well-being according to four regions identified by the United States Census Bureau: the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Using the official measures and the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW), the authors examine how the average American household fared from 1989 to 2001 and discuss disparities in […]
Download LIMEW Report, March 2005 PDF (1.59 MB)
Research Project Report December 01, 2004
How Much Does Public Consumption Matter for Well-Being?
Asena Caner, Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

This report supplements previous findings of the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) research project within our program on the distribution of income and wealth. Some readers have questioned the sensitivity of our estimates in view of our imputation techniques. Therefore, the authors explore the sensitivity of their key findings to changes in the […]
Download LIMEW Report, December 2004 PDF (417.17 KB)
Research Project Report September 22, 2004
How Much Does Wealth Matter for Well-Being?
Asena Caner, Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

Economic well-being refers to the command or access by members of a household over the goods and services produced in a modern market economy during a given period of time.The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) is a comprehensive measure that is constructed as the sum of the following components: base money income (gross […]
Download LIMEW Report, September 2004 PDF (424.32 KB)
Research Project Report May 01, 2004
Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being
Asena Caner, Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

This report presents the latest findings of the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) research project within our program on the distribution of income and wealth. It enhances previous findings about economic well-being and inequality in the United States by extending our analysis to include additional years, 1995 and 2001, and by comparing our […]
Download LIMEW Report, May 2004 PDF (450.31 KB)
Research Project Report February 12, 2004
Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being
Asena Caner, Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

The Levy Economics Institute has, since its inception, maintained an active research program on the distribution of earnings, income, and wealth. Experience from the 1990s suggests that economic growth alone cannot dramatically reduce economic inequality. Because we are concerned with the improvement of well being, we have initiated a research project, the Levy Institute Measure […]
Download LIMEW Report, February 2004 PDF (640.75 KB)
Research Project Report December 09, 2003
Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being
Asena Caner, Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

The Levy Economics Institute has, since its inception, maintained an active research program on the distribution of earnings, income, and wealth. Experience from the 1990s suggests that economic growth alone cannot dramatically reduce economic inequality. Because we are concerned with the improvement of well being, we have initiated a research project, the Levy Institute Measure […]
Download LIMEW Report, December 2003 PDF (609.84 KB)
Working Paper No. 386 September 01, 2003
Household Wealth, Public Consumption, and Economic Well-Being in the United States
Asena Caner, Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

*Preliminary draft. Please do not quote or cite without permission. Standard official measures of economic well-being are based on money income. The general consensus is that such measures are seriously flawed because they ignore several crucial determinants of well-being. We examine two such determinants–household wealth and public consumption–in the context of the United States. Our […]
Download Working Paper No. 386 PDF (375.29 KB)
Working Paper No. 372 February 01, 2003
The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being
Edward N. Wolff, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

Our measure of economic well-being is motivated by the conviction that there is substantial room for improving existing official measures of the level and distribution of household economic well-being. The definition of the scope of our measure is guided by an extended concept of income that fundamentally reflects the resources that a household can command […]
Download Working Paper No. 372 PDF (169.25 KB)
Working Paper No. 342 February 01, 2002
A Note on the Hicksian Concept of Income
Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

Empirical studies of intertemporal dynamics of individual income, distribution of personal income, and growth and distribution of national income are all based on statistics that rely on some concept of income. The dominant one today appears to be the so-called Haig-Simons-Hicks (HSH) concept of income. I examine the foundations of this concept in Hicks? Value […]
Download Working Paper No. 342 PDF (131.60 KB)
Working Paper No. 321 January 01, 2001
Testing Profit Rate Equalization in the US Manufacturing Sector
Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

Long-run differentials in interindustrial profitability are relevant for several areas of theoretical and applied economics because they characterize the overall nature of competition in a capitalist economy. This paper argues that the existing empirical models of competition in the industrial organization literature suffer from serious flaws. An alternative framework, based on recent advances in the […]
Download Working Paper No. 321 PDF (379.40 KB)
Public Policy Brief No. 61 November 09, 2000
Whither the Welfare State?
Jamee K. Moudud, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

The idea that saving is the force driving private investment and economic growth has become ever more entrenched in mainstream economic thought as well as in the minds of policymakers and the general public. Even though the empirical evidence that increased household saving will directly stimulate private investment and economic growth is scant, the idea […]
Download Public Policy Brief No. 61, 2000 PDF (198.67 KB)
Working Paper No. 291 December 01, 1999
The Social Wage, Welfare Policy, and the Phases of Capital Accumulation
Jamee K. Moudud, and Ajit Zacharias
Abstract

This paper addresses two broad questions. The first one relates to the economic rationale for the existence of the welfare state. To address this question, we review the marginalist arguments and then counterpose a historical and institutional analysis of the rise of the US welfare state. The second question concerns the macroeconomic impacts of welfare […]
Download Working Paper No. 291 PDF (401.78 KB)