Assessing black progress: employment,occupation, earnings,income, poverty

Farley discusses changes in employment, occupation, earnings, income, and poverty among US blacks. Among black men, there has been a persistent rise in unemployment since 1960. By the early 1980s, 1 black man out of 8 had dropped out of the labor force, compared to 1 in 20 white men. Some contend that many black men lack the skills to be employed or have personal habits and criminal records which make them unacceptable to employers. Others believe that the expansion of federal welfare programs offers attractive alternatives to men who have limited earnings potential. Still others stress that blacks are concentrated within cities, while the growth of employment is occurring in suburbs. Among those blacks over age 54, labor force participation has declined because of improved Social Security benefits, better private pensions, and the greater availability of Supplemental Security Income. The employment of young blacks compared to whites has deteriorated since 1960. For both races, there has been a steady rise in the employment of women. The recent increases, however, have been great for whites. By the early 1980s, white women caught up with black women in terms of employment. Unlike the indicators of employment itself, there is unambiguous evidence that the occupational distribution of employed blacks has been upgraded and is gradually becoming similar to that of whites. Findings from many studies show that blacks once earned much less than similar whites, but this racial difference has declined among men and has nearly disappeared among women. The proportion of blacks impoverished fell sharply in the 1960s, reaching a minimum of 30% in the early 1970s. Since the early 1970s, blacks have made few gains. The proportion impoverished actually increased and the ratio of black-to-white family income declined. The fact that the earnings of black males are no longer rising faster than those of whites and that there is no longer a migration from southern farms to cities plays a role, but changes in family structure are also important. At all dates, poverty rates have been high and income levels low in families headed by women. In 1984, for example, 52% of the black families with a woman as head of household were below the poverty line, compared to 15% of the black married-couple families. While similar trends are occurring in white families, there has been a sharper increase in the proportion of blacks living in these female-maintained families which have high poverty rates.     

Structural change in federal spending and deficits: Legislative and cyclical influences

This paper analyzes the behavior of federal expenditures and budget deficits since 1955. It is found that growth in these series is well described by two simple step functions allowing for three discrete increases in the means of the variables. When adjusted for the changes in means, both series are stationary with no significant time trend. It is found that the increases in means are associated with government attempts to implement countercyclical fiscal policy during recessions. Also, the increases in means coincide well with specific legislative acts which increased the budgetary power of individual members of Congress and ended the ability of the president to use impoundment as a substitute for a line-item veto.     

Aspects of growth,structural change,and employment A schumpeterian perspective

Zusammenfassung Wachstumsaspekte, Strukturver?nderung und Besch?ftigung — Eine Interpretation im Sinne Schumpeters. — Um das Wachstum der Weltwirtschaft zu interpretieren, wird ein Denkschema offeriert, das zeitliche und r?umliche Aspekte berücksichtigt. R?umliche Basis ist eine ?Thünen-Fl?che?, auf der sich ein Produktivit?ts- und Einkommenskegel aufbaut, sobald mobile Ressourcen die Vorteile nutzen, die sich aus einem zentralen Angebot von ?ffentlichen Gütern, aus Rohstoffrenten oder aus der Ballung selbst ergeben. Der Kegel w?chst, wenn Schumpeter-Unternehmer diese Vorteile in innovatorische Aktivit?ten umsetzen, die ihrerseits tempor?re Innovationsrenten erzeugen. Es wird zu erkl?ren versucht, wie sich in Europa — ?hnlich wie in Asien — nach 1945 in einem von der westdeutschen Wirtschaft bestimmten Aufholproze\ ein eigenst?ndiger Wirtschaftskegel-neben dem der USA — entwickeln konnte. Dieser scheint sich nach Süden zu verlagern. Au\er Hinweisen darauf, wie ein Land zu einer Wachstumslokomotive werden oder sich an eine solche ankoppeln kann, enth?lt der Aufsatz eine Lebenszyklus-Hypothese für die Leistungsbilanz und die Handelspolitik sowie Er?rterungen über die Frage, wie ein Land, dem ein Aufholvorgang gelungen ist, die Triebkr?fte seiner wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung st?rken und gleichzeitig eine klassische Arbeitslosigkeit ohne Reallohnsenkung beseitigen kann.

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Résumé Les aspects de croissance, de changement structurel et d’emploi — Une perspective Schumpeterienne. — Pour interpréter la croissance de l’économie mondiale, cet article offre un schéma de pensée qui considère des aspects temporels et spatiaux. La base spatiale est une ?surface de Thünen? sur laquelle s’édifie un c?ne de productivité et de revenu aussit?t que des ressources mobiles utilisent les avantages, qui résultent d’une offre centrale des biens publiques, des rentes des matières premières ou de l’agglomération elle-même. Le c?ne cro ?t, si des entrepreneurs Schumpeteriens transforment ces avantages en activités innovatrices qui elles-mêmes produisent des rentes d’innovation temporaires. On essaie d’expliquer comment en Europe — de même qu’en Asie — un c?ne d’économie indépendente pouvait se développer — à c?té duquel des Etats Unis — après 1945 en cours d’un processus de rattrapage déterminé par l’économie d’Allemagne de l’Ouest. Ce c?ne se semble déplacer vers le Sud. En plus de la discussion du problème comment un pays peut devenir une locomotive de croissance ou se peut accoupler à une telle locomotive, l’article contient une hypothèse de cycle de vie pour la balance commerciale et pour la politique de commerce extérieur aussi bien que des réflexions sur la question, comment un pays qui a réalisé un processus de rattrapage peut renforcer les forces motrices de son développement économique et simultanément peut éliminer un ch?mage classique sans une diminution des salaires réels.

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Resumen Aspectos de crecimiento, cambio estructural y empleo — Una vision schumpeteriana. — Con el fin de interpretar el crecimiento de la economia mundial, el autor presenta un esquema de reflexion que incorpora aspectos temporales y espaciales. La base espacial viene constituida por la llamada ?área de Thünen?, sobre la que se eleva un cono de productividad e ingresos en cuanto los recursos móviles hacen uso de las ventajas que resultan de un aprovisamiento centralizado de bienes públicos, de rentas derivadas de la posesión de materias primas o de la aglomeración misma. El cono crece si los llamados empresarios schumpeterianos convierten esta ventajas en actividades innovadoras, que por su parte generan rentas de innovación. El autor trata de explicar cómo se pudo formar después de 1945 en Europa — al igual que en Asia — un cono autónomo de crecimiento — al lado del existente en los Estados Unidos — a lo largo del proceso de récuperatión económica que estuvo protagonizado por la economía de Alemania Occidental. Este cono parece dislocarse ahora hacia el sur. El trabajo no solo indica cómo un país puede convertirse en, o engancharse a, una locomotora de crecimiento; también desarrolla una hipótesis sobre lo que el ?ciclo de vida? de una sociedad implica para la balanza de bienes y servicios y para la política comercial de un país. Además discute las posibilidades que tiene una natión, que ha consequido la recuperatión, de vigorizar las fuerzas de propulsión de crecimiento y al mismo tiempo de eliminar el clásico paro laboral sin tener que reducir los salarios reales.

     

Money growth and the employment aspirations of black Americans

Conclusion Irrespective of other economic initiatives in the area of fiscal and regulatory policies that may be required, there will not likely be an improvement in the employment situation for black Americans unless policy-makers gain a better handle on the conduct of monetary policy. The implication is that the welfare of black Americans tends to improve most when the economy is experiencing high and steady rates of economic growth. The single most important tool for achieving that growth is a highly stable rate of monetary growth that is roughly in line with the longterm growth of the economy.     

以就业为导向培养学生职业能力探析

良好的职业能力是学生就业的基础.高职院校以就业为导向,就应着重培养学生的职业能力.为此要按岗位职业能力要求设置课程;师资建设要满足职业能力需求;以就业为导向加强实践教学;通过勤工助学方式训练职业能力;推行"双证书"制;重视学生的创业教育.     

Inflation,expectations, and cyclical aggravations

Summary The negative relationship between output and producers' expectations and the positive relationship between output and consumers' expectations, as hypothesized by Brunner and Meltzer, is very sensitive to the choice of the model. These Brunner-Meltzer predictions would not be supported by the results derived from a Fisherian model with or without a Phillips curve specification, such as the models presented in this paper.Within the context of the Fisherian model, an increase in the degree of adjustment by one or both sectors will lead to greater price stability. For policy purposes, this result suggests that the increase in available information or significant reduction in the costs of acquiring information may yield greater price stability. A welfare gain may also be achieved if the parameters are interdependent such that information conveyed to one sector effectively leaks to the other. In the latter case, the policy approach may be to try to influence the exogeneous expectations parameters and the lag adjustment between them.Recent studies have proposed that the labor market—or the market for new entrants and transitory workers—is the arena in which all firms participate. Hence, most of the information regarding price movements could be efficiently gathered in this market. If this is an accurate presumption, thenB* would, to some extent, be a function then of the labor market adjustment parameterA*. Further amendments to the model presented in this paper would, however, be necessary to incorporate this alternative.     

The measurement and interpretation of black wage and occupational gains: A Reevaluation

Conclusion Important changes have occurred in the economic situation of black Americans over the last two decades. The reported convergence in black and white wages and occupational positions are critically important to understand. An awareness of the tenacity of racism should not lead us to argue that reality is static. At the same time, it would be a mistake to draw extreme conclusions about the crumbling of one of the historical building blocks of the U.S. economy. This article has been particularly motivated by the latter concern.     

Transformation in the educational system: Catalysts for black change

Conclusion In conclusion it must be recognized that change is not necessarily change for the better. Some reforms will have no real impact on educational progress for blacks. If we want to improve the educational process and increase the quantity and quality of human capital available to the black community, we must support those reforms that will best serve that goal. The type and structure will vary from community to community. There is no single blueprint. This article merely attempts to present some of the details of proposed reforms to focus upon the factors that must be considered before a strategy can be determined. Presented at the Second Annual State of the Black Economy Symposium, April 28, 1972, Chicago, Illinois. Reprinted from vol. 2, no. 3 (Spring 1972) ofThe Review of Black Political Economy.     

Real wages,investment and employment: New evidence from West German sectoral data

Real Wages, Investment and Employment: New Evidence from West German Sectoral Data. — Non-separable capital adjustment costs imply that investment directly affects the demand for labour and therefore justify not only the lagged dependent variable but also the presence of investment expenditures or Tobin’s valuation ratio Q in labour demand estimation. On this basis, the authors estimate a very parsimonious specification of demand for blue-collar workers in a panel of 32 West German industries. They find much larger short-run real wage employment elasticities than previous research, and robustly significant positive effects of investment or Tobin’s Q on labour demand.     

A simultaneous probit model of crime and employment for black and white teenage males

This study examines the relationships between the employability and criminality of white and black male teenagers. A disequilibrium model of employment and crime is formulated and estimated as a simultaneous probit equation system. Our results show that black teenagers who are employed engage in fewer criminal activities. Thus, it appears that blacks view employment and crime as alternative income-generating activities. On the other hand, the criminal behavior of white male teenagers is unaffected by their employment status. The evidence that we provide indicates that whites tend to use employment as a cover for crime or to moonlight in crime. The differences in the behaviors of whites and blacks can be explained, in part, by different legitimate opportunity structures for whites and blacks. One of the more important policy implications is that job opportunities targeted to high risk, black teenage populations will have the additional beneficial effect of reducing crime rates.     

Sectoral and aggregate estimates of the cyclical behavior of markups: Evidence from Germany

Sectoral and Aggregate Estimates of the Cyclical Behavior of Mark-ups: Evidence from Germany. — The paper presents evidence of the cyclical behavior of the price to marginal cost ratio for Germany. Average markups are estimated both for two-digit manufacturing industries and for the aggregate economy, the results being quite similar once the difference between gross output and and value-added markups is accounted for. Over the business cycle, markups appear to be countercyclical for most parameter constellations. This is interpreted as empirical support for business cycle theories that rely on aggregate demand shocks to affect markups inversely, thus producing procyclical real wages and productivity without having to assume technology shocks.     

Women's work and structural change: occupational structure in eighteenth‐century Spain

This article uses the declarations of householders in the Cadaster of Ensenada (1750–5) to calculate labour participation rates for women and men from 22 localities in inland Spain. The article establishes the actual levels of women's market activity, which are much higher than commonly assumed. This unique source also makes it possible to analyse the region's occupational structure. Due to the labour‐intensive character of manufacturing work, the abundant supply of cheap labour, the diffusion of cottage industries, and the demand for commodities from internal and colonial markets, a large portion of the region's population worked in manufactures in the eighteenth century. This finding challenges standard interpretations of the Spanish economy at this time as mostly agricultural, which rely on sources that exclude women workers. Most workers in the manufacturing sector were women, and their market activity was concentrated in textile manufacturing. Once women are included in the analyses, the industrial share of employment follows a U‐shaped trajectory from the eighteenth century to the twentieth century. The article concludes that the standard interpretation of structural change, based solely on empirical evidence for male workers, gives a misleading picture of when, where, why, and how structural change occurred.