We decompose the Lorenz curve (LC) and its associated concentration curve (CC) by population subgroups. To illustrate these decompositions, we examine changes in earnings inequality among West Germans, East Germans, and foreign guest workers during the recent German unification. We show that...

This paper investigates the impact of economic growth, and more specifically robust economic growth along with other macroeconomic determinants, on poverty levels using both the U.S. official measure of poverty and an estimated time series of Sen indices of poverty. The results reveal that the...

This paper examines the characteristics of entry level academic economists and investigates the determinants of market salaries. Contrary to what might be expected, we find that nominal salaries are not systematically adjusted to reflect observable differences in the cost of living. Our findings...

We examine theoretically and empirically social interactions in labor markets and how policy prescriptions can change dramatically when there are social interactions present. Spillover effects increase labor supply and conformity effects make labor supply perfectly inelastic at a reference group...

We examine theoretically and empirically social interactions in labor markets and how policy prescriptions can change dramatically when there are social interactions present. Spillover effects increase labor supply and conformity effects make labor supply perfectly inelastic at a reference group...

This study examines the redistributional effects of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) using a national database of premium, coverage, and claim payments at the county level between 1980 and 2006. Measuring progressivity as the departure from per capita county income proportionality, we...

Market-oriented economic reform, which accelerated after 1992, has brought substantial changes to the Chinese economy. This dramatic economic transition was raised two important questions: 'How are women faring in the transition from a planned economy to a market economy?' and 'Are some women...

We discuss issues of international sharing of the responsibility for refugees seeking protection from life threatening circumstances such as created in the course or aftermath of war or an ongoing crises. After surveying proposals for allocating responsibility for refugees among cooperating...

We propose a theoretical framework in which a university sets its paid parental leave length to balance the costs of providing the paid leave against the cost savings from higher female faculty retention. The theory has implications for the decision to offer a paid leave policy as well as the...

We gauge the impact of the Great Recession on racial and ethnic subgroups by applying a stochastic dominance method proposed by Le Breton, et al. (2012).  The method generates a partial discrimination ordering – or alternatively, a measure of the economic advantage for one subgroup...