Unlevel Playing Fields

Understanding Wage Inequality and Discrimination

By Randy Albelda, Robert Drago, and Steven Shulman

unlevel playing fields cover
Edition:
3rd
Date of publication:
January 2010
ISBN:
978-1-878585-95-0
Pages:
193
Price:
$34.95


  • LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
  • PREFACE
  • ABOUT THE AUTHORS
  • PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO WAGE INEQUALITY
  • Chapter 1: Two Views on Inequality and Discrimination
    • A GLIMPSE AT DISCRIMINATION
    • TWO VIEWS FROM ECONOMICS
    • WHAT'S AT STAKE HERE
    • PLAN OF THE BOOK
    • DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
    • SUGGESTED READINGS
  • Chapter 2: Labor Market Inequality by the Numbers
    • INTRODUCTION: LIES, DAMN LIES, AND STATISTICS
    • WAGES: THE BASICS OF WAGE INEQUALITY
      • The Minimum Wage
      • The Rise and Fall of Real Wages
      • The Increase in Wage Inequality
      • Growing Family Income and Wealth Gaps
    • UNEMPLOYMENT TRENDS SINCE THE 1950s:
    • PERSISTENT INEQUALITIES
      • Measuring Unemployment and Employment
      • Unemployment and the Business Cycle
      • The Race Gap
      • Gender Differences
    • THE DISTRIBUTION OF JOBS: NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT
      • Industry Differences
      • Occupational Differences
      • Occupational Segregation
      • The Possibility of Discrimination
    • SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
    • DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
    • SUGGESTED READINGS
  • PART 2 THE NEOCLASSICAL APPROACH
  • CHAPTER 3 The Basics of Neoclassical Economics
    • CENTRAL IDEAS: MARKETS AND COMPETITION
    • HOW PEOPLE ACT: RATIONALITY, SCARCITY, AND OPPORTUNITY COST
    • WELCOME TO THE MARKET: DEMAND AND SUPPLY
      • Demand
      • Supply
      • Equilibrium
    • EFFICIENCY, EQUITY, AND THE GOVERNMENT
      • Efficiency
      • Equity
      • Laissez-faire Policies
    • BEHIND THE MARKET: THE DIVISION OF LABOR AND COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
    • SUMMING UP
    • DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
    • SUGGESTED READINGS
    • APPENDIX: A CLOSER LOOK: THE ROOTS OF NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS
      • Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations
      • David Ricardo and Comparative Advantage
      • The Marginalists
      • Pareto and Efficiency
  • Chapter 4: Work and Wages in the Neoclassical Model
    • INTRODUCTION: THE MARKET FOR WORK
    • THE DEMAND FOR LABOR: WHY FIRMS EMPLOY PEOPLE
    • THE SUPPLY OF LABOR: WHO WANTS TO WORK, AND HOW
    • PRODUCTIVE ARE THE WORKERS?
      • The Work Decision
      • Human Capital
      • Household Production
    • EXPLAINING WAGE DIFFERENCES
      • Firm-specific and General Human Capital
      • Compensating Differences and Hedonic Wages
      • Inheritance
    • UNEMPLOYMENT
      • Structural Unemployment
      • Frictional Unemployment
      • Seasonal Unemployment
      • Linking Unemployment and Wages
    • The Keynesian Challenge
    • THE FAIRNESS OF INEQUALITY: WAGE DIFFERENCES AMONG GROUPS
    • DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
    • SUGGESTED READINGS
  • Chapter 5: Discrimination in the Neoclassical View
    • INTRODUCTION: DIFFERENCE AND DISCRIMINATION
      • The Inefficiency of Discrimination
      • Three Outcomes from Discrimination
    • MODELS OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON PREJUDICE: CONSUMERS, EMPLOYERS, AND EMPLOYEES
      • Consumer Discrimination
      • Employer Discrimination
      • Employee Discrimination
    • STATISTICAL DISCRIMINATION
      • The Transaction Costs Problem
      • The Problem of Statistical Discrimination
      • Comparing Prejudice and Statistical Discrimination
    • THE MAGIC OF THE MARKET TO THE RESCUE: ENDING DISCRIMINATION
      • Ending Discrimination Because of Prejudice
      • Ending Statistical Discrimination
    • MEASURING WAGE DISCRIMINATION
      • How to Measure Wage Discrimination
      • How Severe Is Wage Discrimination?
      • Problems with Measures of Wage Discrimination
    • WHY DISCRIMINATION PERSISTS
      • Premarket Discrimination
      • Cultural and Biological Differences
    • POLICIES AND PRESCRIPTIONS
    • SUMMARY
    • DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
    • SUGGESTED READINGS
  • PART 3 THE POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH
  • Chapter 7: Work and Wages in the Political Economy
    • INTRODUCTION: MORE THAN A PAYCHECK
    • WAGE DETERMINATION
      • The Labor Theory of Value
      • The Role of Customs and Institutions
      • Home Production and the Family Wage
      • Income Supports and the Social Wage
    • MACROECONOMICS: THE ROLE OF UNEMPLOYMENT
    • LABOR MARKETS IN CAPITALISM: MOTIVATION AND THE LABOR
    • PROCESS
      • The Cost of Job Loss: Unemployment Is No Picnic
      • The Labor Process: Simplify and Control
    • EXPLAINING WAGE DIFFERENTIALS
      • Labor Segmentation: Divide and Conquer Everywhere
      • The New Labor Segmentation
      • Traditions: Faces Filling Places
    • SUMMARY
    • DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
    • SUGGESTED READINGS
  • Chapter 8: The Political Economy Model of Discrimination
    • INTRODUCTION: EXPLOITATION, DOMINATION, AND EXCLUSION AGAIN
    • DISCRIMINATION IN CONTEXT: WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN HURT YOU
    • GROUNDS FOR DISCRIMINATION: ECONOMIC INCENTIVES AND ORGANIZATIONAL ADAPTATION
      • Economic Incentives
      • Organizational Adaptation: Don't Rock the Boat
    • THE DYNAMICS OF DISCRIMINATION
      • Discrimination and the Business Cycle
      • The Long-Run Dynamics of Discrimination
    • WHAT TO DO?
      • A Work and Family Bill of Rights
      • How Does the Work and Family Bill of Rights Involve and Empower Groups?
      • Making Change
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
    • SUGGESTED READINGS

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES


TABLES

    • 2.1 Hourly Wages For Wage Workers (In 2007 Dollars)
    • 2.2 Median Family Income and Net Worth and Ratios by Race and Ethnicity, 2004
    • 2.3 Labor Force, Employment, and Unemployment Statistics for Civilian Population 16 Years and Older, 2008
    • 2.4 NBER Business Cycle Peaks and Troughs 1945-2008
    • 2.5 Unemployment Rates and Ratios by Gender, Race, and Age in Trough and Peak Years of Business Cycle
    • 2.6 Employment by Industry 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000
    • 2.7 Composition of Industrial Employment by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity, 2008
    • 2.8 Employment by Occupation for Men, Women, Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, 2008
    • 2.9 Top 10 Detailed Occupations for All Full-Time Employed Women, 2008
    • 2.10 Top 10 Detailed Occupations for All Full-Time Employed Men, 2008
    • 2.11 Median Earnings of Full-Time Workers By Sex in Management-Related Occupations, 2008
    • 5.1 The Gender Gap in Wages
    • 5.2 Discriminatory Wage Differences Among College Graduates, 1991-2000
    • 7.1 Characteristics of Labor Segments

FIGURES

    • 2.1 Nominal and real value of the minimum wage, 1938-2008 (In 2008 dollars)
    • 2.2 Average weekly earnings, 1959 to 2008 (in 2008 dollars)
    • 2.3 Median annual earnings for black and white, male and female workers, 1967-2008 (in 2008 dollars)
    • 2.4 Median annual earnings for YRFT white and black, male and female workers, 1967-2008 (in 2008 dollars)
    • 2.5 Median annual earnings for all and YRFT Hispanic male and female workers, selected years, 1974-2008 (in 2008 dollars)
    • 2.6 Labor force participation rates for white, black, and Hispanic men and women, 1973-2008
    • 2.7 Unemployment rate, 1947-2008
    • 2.8 Hispanic, black, and white unemployment rates, 1947-2008
    • 2.9 Unemployment rates for men and women, 1947-2008
    • 2.10 Occupational composition by gender, 2008
    • 3.1 Equilibrium in the artichoke market
    • 3.2 Change in demand for artichokes
    • 4.1 Female labor supply
    • 4.2 Male labor supply
    • 6.1 Forms of Oppression: Class, Race, and Gender