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on Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty |
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Issue of 2009‒02‒22
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Kahn, Lawrence M. (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | This Chapter reviews evidence on discrimination in basketball, primarily examining studies on race but with some discussion of gender as well. I focus on discrimination in pay, hiring, and retention against black NBA players and coaches and pay disparities by gender among college coaches. There was much evidence for each of these forms of discrimination against black NBA players in the 1980s. However, there appears to be less evidence of racial compensation, hiring and retention discrimination against black players in the 1990s and early 2000s than the 1980s. This apparent decline is consistent with research on customer discrimination in the NBA: in the 1980s, there was abundant evidence of fan preference for white players; however, since the 1980s, these preferences seem much weaker. There appears to be little evidence of pay, hiring or retention discrimination against black NBA coaches, and while male college basketball coaches outearn females, this gap is accounted for by differences in revenues and coaches' work histories. There is some dispute over whether these revenue differences are themselves the result of employer discrimination. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, race, gender, basketball |
| JEL: | J71 L83 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3987&r=ltv |
| By: | Samuel Bowles (Santa Fe Institute and University of Siena); Glenn C. Loury (Department of Economics, Brown University); Rajiv Sethi (Department of Economics, Barnard College, Columbia University and the Institute for Advanced Study) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores conditions under which inequality across social groups can emerge from initially group-egalitarian distributions and persist across generations despite equality of eco- nomic opportunity. These conditions arise from interactions among three factors: the extent of segregation in social networks, the strength of interpersonal spillovers in human capital accumu- lation, and the responsiveness of relative wages to the skill composition in production. Social segregation is critical in generating these results: group inequality cannot emerge or persist un- der conditions of equal opportunity unless segregation su¢ ciently great. We also show that if an initially disadvantaged group is su¢ ciently small, integration above a threshold level can induce both groups to invest more in human capital, while the opposite holds if the disadvantaged group is large. |
| Keywords: | segregation, networks, group inequality, human capital |
| JEL: | D31 Z13 J71 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ads:wpaper:0088&r=ltv |
| By: | Engström, Per (IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation); Hesselius, Patrik (IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation); Holmlund, Bertil (Department of Economics, Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | One goal of the public employment service is to facilitate matching between unemployed job seekers and job vacancies; another goal is to monitor job search so as to bring search efforts among the unemployed in line with search requirements. The referral of job seekers to vacancies is one instrument used for these purposes. We report results from a randomized Swedish experiment where the outcome of referrals is examined. To what extent do unemployed individuals actually apply for the jobs they are referred to? Does information to job seekers about increased monitoring affect the probability of applying and the probability of leaving unemployment? The experiment indicates that a relatively large fraction (one third) of the referrals do not result in job applications. Information about intensified monitoring causes an increase in the probability of job application, especially among young people. However, we find no significant impact on the duration of unemployment. |
| Keywords: | vacancy referral; job matching; job search; randomized experiment |
| JEL: | C99 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2009–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2009_003&r=ltv |
| By: | Jenkins S (Institute for Social and Economic Research); Burkhauser R (Cornell University); Feng S (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics); Larrimore J (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | To measure income inequality with right censored (topcoded) data, we propose multiple imputation for censored observations using draws from Generalized Beta of the Second Kind distributions to provide partially synthetic datasets analyzed using complete data methods. Estimation and inference uses ReiterÂ’s (Survey Methodology 2003) formulae. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) internal data, we find few statistically significant differences in income inequality for pairs of years between 1995 and 2004. We also show that using CPS public use data with cell mean imputations may lead to incorrect inferences about inequality differences. Multiply-imputed public use data provide an intermediate solution. |
| Date: | 2009–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2009-04&r=ltv |
| By: | Sabatini, Fabio (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit) |
| Abstract: | Which kind of social capital fosters the diffusion of development-oriented trust? This paper carries out an empirical investigation into the causal relationships connecting four types of social capital (i.e. bonding, bridging, linking, and corporate), and different forms of trust (knowledge-based trust, social trust, trust towards public services and political institutions), in a community of entrepreneurs located in the Italian industrial district of the Tuscia. Our results suggest that the main factors fostering the diffusion of social trust among entrepreneurs are the perception that the local community is a safe place, and the establishment of corporate ties through professional associations. Trust in people is positively and significantly correlated also to higher levels of satisfaction and confidence in public services. Participation in voluntary organizations does not appear to increase trust in people. Rather, we find evidence of the other way round: interpersonal trust seems to encourage civic engagement. |
| Keywords: | Trust; Social capital; Safety; Professional associations; Entrepreneurship; Corporate ties; Group and Interpersonal Processes; Social Perception and Cognition |
| JEL: | A13 J24 O15 Z13 |
| Date: | 2009–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:aiccon:2009_058&r=ltv |
| By: | John F. Helliwell; Christopher P. Barrington-Leigh; Anthony Harris; Haifang Huang |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the first three waves of the Gallup World Poll to investigate differences across countries, cultures and regions in the factors linked to life satisfaction, paying special attention to the social context. Our principal findings are: First, using the larger pooled sample, we find that answers to the satisfaction with life and Cantril ladder questions provide consistent views of what constitutes a good life, with an average of the two measures providing a clearer picture than either measure on its own. Second, we find strong evidence for the importance of both income and social context variables in explaining within-country and international differences in well-being. For most specifications tested, the combined effects of a few measures of the social and institutional context are as large as those of income in explaining both international and intra-national differences in life satisfaction. Third, the very significant influences of both income and social factors permit the calculation of compensating differentials for social factors. We find very large income-equivalent values for key measures of the social context. Fourth, the international similarity of the estimated equations suggests that the large international differences in average life evaluations are not due to different approaches to the meaning of a good life, but to differing social, institutional, and economic life circumstances. |
| JEL: | D6 I3 J1 O0 O10 P51 P52 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14720&r=ltv |