An Anatomy Of Racial and Ethnic Trends in Male Earnings in the U.S

Progress in narrowing black–white earnings differences has been far from continuous, with some of the apparent progress resulting from labor force withdrawal among lower‐skilled African Americans. This paper documents racial and ethnic differences in male earnings from 1950 through 2010 using data from the decennial census and American Community Surveys. Emphasis is given to annual rather than weekly or hourly earnings. We take a quantile approach, providing evidence on medians and other percentiles of the distribution. Treatment of imputed earnings greatly affects measured outcomes. Hispanic men have exhibited earnings growth similar to white men over several decades. Black men have been left behind economically due in large part to increased joblessness, a process exacerbated by weak labor market conditions. By 2010, joblessness had risen to over 40 percent and the median black–white earnings gap was the largest in at least 60 years.     

Demand for education, and its estimation

Since education produces major externalities and has important merit want characteristics, the estimation of a demand schedule is extremely difficult. Demand estimation for higher education is made somewhat easier because of the great importance of the associated costs and the relevant private substitutes, i.e. private colleges and universities. Therefore higher education is a good candidate for the application of the individual (economic) preference approach, which is based on the assumption that individuals are aware of their need for education about as they are aware of their needs for products provided by the open market.

The estimation of demand for primary and secondary education can rely only to a minor extent on the individual (economic) preference approach. The voter's behavior approach analysis is likely to be more directly applicable. Study of the behavior of voters and the behavior of legislators and members of school boards can shed light on the demand for education. Analytic insight can be gained also by the “voting with one's feet”, and the “calculus of consent” methods.

Finally, benefit-cost analysis can be applied in situations where education gives an extremely weak demand signal. In education we often are less interested in overall benefit-cost estimates than in the benefit-cost positions in which different important interest groups find themselves with regard to education. Such analysis requires the identification of significant interest groups, bargaining strategies, and bargaining patterns, as well as of ways in which education decision makers respond to group pressures.     

Firm size and export performance

Economic analysis based on the Theory of the Firm shows that the exporting firm can be conceptualized as a discriminating monopolist, facing several demand curves. The analysis shows that under these conditions, and assuming certainty, the larger the firm, the higher the ratio of exports to total sales.When uncertainty is introduced into the model, the conclusion regarding the relationship between size and the ratio of exports to sales is reinforced. Large firms can afford to assume more risks than small ones; in addition, their risks from foreign operations are less than those of small firms because the large firms benefit from economies of scale in foreign marketing. Consequently, the risk premium demanded by large firms from foreign marketing is less than the premium insisted upon by small firms. Large firms therefore tend to export a higher share of their output. These theoretical constructs are confirmed by empirical analysis performed on a sample of several hundred firms from six industries in Denmark, Holland and Israel. The figures confirm, with few exceptions, that the size of firms is indeed positively correlated with the ratio of exports to sales.The normative conclusion which can be drawn from the above is that economic policy-makers who wish to increase the export potential of industrial firms, should adopt policies which will encourage large firms to come into being through mergers, take-overs or simply fast growth.     

Effects of knowledge and service intensities on domestic and export performance

Zusammenfassung Der Einflu? der Wissens- und Dienstleistungsintensit?t von Industrien auf deren Markterfolge im In- und Ausland. - Dieser Aufsatz prüft die These, da? die Markterfolge eines Unternehmens von dessen Wissens- und Dienstleistungsintensit?t abh?ngen. Der Besitz von Kenntnissen verschafft die M?glichkeit, auf dem Markt Monopolrenten für die Einmaligkeit von Produkten abzusch?pfen, aber spezifische Kenntnisse k?nnen auch in Dienstleistungen enthalten sein, die mit denselben Produkten verbunden sind. Um für die K?ufer von Nutzen zu sein, müssen solche Produkte (z.B. Computer) an spezifische Dienstleistungen gekoppelt sein. Die Marktmacht wird durch das Ausma? beeinflu?t, in dem solche Dienstleistungen von der Herstellerfirma kontrolliert werden. Eine empirische Untersuchung auf der Grundlage von Daten für 14 israelische Elektronikfirmen im Zeitraum 1977–1983 best?tigt die Hypothese, die aus dem Modell abgeleitet wurde.

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Résumé Effets des intensités des connaissances et de service sur la performance locale et exportatrice. - L’article examine la thèse que la performance du marché est déterminée par l’intensité des connaissances et de service. Les connaissances propriétaires le rendent possible de tirer des rentes du marché si elles sont incorporées en biens caractérisés d’un certain degré d’unicité, mais elles sont aussi contenues en services associés avec ces mêmes biens. Pour être utile aux acheteurs, tels biens (par example computers) ont besoin des services spécifiques. Le pouvoir du marché est influencé au mesure du contr?le que l’entreprise exerce sur tels services associés. Une analyse empirique basée sur des données obtenues de 14 entreprises électroniques israéliens pour la période 1977–1983 confirme l’hypothèse spécifique dérivée du modèle.

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Resumen Los efectos de la intensidad de conocimiento y servicios sobre la economía y las exportaciones. - Este trabajo examina la hipótesis de que el funcionamiento del mercado está determinado por la intensidad de conocimiento y de servicios. Conocimientos patentados ofrecen la posibilidad de extraer rentas del mercado, si están incorporados en productos que gozan de un cierto grado de unicidad o contenidos en servicios asociados a estos productos. Para ser útiles para el consumidor, tales productos (computadoras) deben estar acompa?ados por servicios específicos. La positión de una empresa en el mercado depende del grado en el cual la empresa contróla los servicios asociados. Un análisis empírico a partir de datos sobre 14 empresas electrónicas israelíes, cubriendo el período 1977–1983, confirma la hipótesis derivada del modelo.