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  Working Paper No. 186

  Gender Wage Differentials, Affirmative Action, and Employment Growth on the Industry Level

  In their study of industry wage premia, Research Associates Judith Fields of Lehman College, City University of New York, and Edward N. Wolff of New York University find that gender wage differentials can be explained only in part by the distribution of women and men in different industries, and that other factors, such as discrimination, […]
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  Working Paper No. 185

  Disinflationary Monetary Policy and the Distribution of Income

  Some economists and others argue that, despite years of low inflation, a further decrease in the rate of price growth would be beneficial by reducing the dead-weight losses created by inflation-induced distortions. According to Research Associate Willem Thorbecke, of George Mason University, such arguments fail to consider the costs and benefits of changes in the […]
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  Public Policy Brief No. 29

  Institutional Failure and the American Worker

  David R. Howell argues that the collapse of low-skill wages in the United States cannot be explained by a skill mismatch resulting from a technology-driven decline in the demand for low-skill labor. He presents evidence refuting the prevailing belief that a substantial shift in demand away from low-skill work characterized the 1980s. Howell asserts that […]
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  Report No. 1

  Report February 1997

  With the discussion of the balanced budget amendment intensifying as it comes up for a vote again, the February Report highlights analysis of how the amendment might affect the future of the economy, including an editorial by President Dimitri B. Papadimitriou and an interview with Alan Blinder, former vice chairman of the Board of Governors […]
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  Working Paper No. 184

  The New Welfare

  During the summer of 1996, President Clinton signed what some consider to be the most sweeping welfare reform since the initial adoption of public assistance programs in 1935. Resident Scholar Oren Levin-Waldman compares the old and new welfare laws, assesses some of the possible effects of the new law, and provides policy prescriptions for how […]
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  Working Paper No. 183

  Corporate Governance and Corporate Employment

  Unless American corporations change their structure of governance, it is unlikely that many will remain prosperous in this age of global competition, argue Research Associates William H. Lazonick and Mary O’Sullivan. US companies are not being hurt by low-wage competition but by their failure to invest in the organizational learning required to remain competitive. US […]
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  Summary No. 4

  Summary Fall 1997

  Scholars have begun to find explanations for the growing earnings inequality in the United States—not in inexorable market forces, foreign competition, or technological change in itself, but in corporate choices regarding pay, skill, and the adoption of new technology. This issue of the Summary reports on the work of several scholars in this area: William […]
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  Summary No. 3

  Summary Summer 1997

  Among the activities summarized in this issue are a series of three papers in which Visiting Scholar David A. Aschauer estimates static and dynamic effects of public capital investment on output and employment growth. Contents: New Working Papers: Real Estate and the Capital Gains Debate * Do States Optimize? Public Capital and Economic Growth * […]
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  Summary No. 2

  Summary Spring 1997

  At an ASSA session, “The Contributions of Hyman Minsky,” scholars from the Levy Institute and elsewhere presented seven papers on the development and lasting influence of the distinguished scholar’s work. Portions of the papers are synopsized in this issue. Contents: Exploring the Politics of the Minimum Wage * Protracted Frictional Unemployment as a Heavy Cost […]
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  Summary No. 1

  Summary Fall–Winter 1996–1997

  Featured in this double issue are reports on a workshop on the future of the welfare state, papers on assimilation of past and present immigrants and on selective migration among immigrants around 1900 by Joel Perlmann, and papers on alternative definitions of the United States’ fiscal deficit by Neil H. Buchanan. Contents: New Public Policy […]
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  Working Paper No. 182

  Literacy among the Jews of Russia in 1897

  Researchers exploring Jewish literacy have traditionally ignored the Russian Census of 1897 on the grounds that it underreported Jewish literacy. Most have felt that the low literacy percentage reported for Jews could not possibly be accurate and therefore scholars have ignored the value of the Census as a research tool. In a study that compares […]
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  Working Paper No. 181

  Which Immigrant Occupational Skills?

  Researchers have long sought explanations for the success of Jews who migrated to the United States at the turn of the century in attaining middle-class status. East European Jews arrived in the United States at the same time as many other ethnic groups between 1880 and 1920, yet achieved economic success far faster. In the […]