American Economic Association Nashville, Tennessee 0022-0515 Journal of Economic Literature 39 1 March 2001 710 Economics Online DrucillaEkwurzelJohnMcMillan The internet is bringing profound changes in scholarly publishing. The American Economic Association maintains a web site (www.AEAweb.org) containing the three AEA journals, bibliographic information, links to various economics information, and various services for AEA members. This note surveys the AEA's on-line initiatives. http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/contents/March2001.html American Economic Association Nashville, Tennessee 0022-0515 Journal of Economic Literature 39 1 March 2001 1133 The Biological Basis of Economic Behavior Arthur J.Robson This paper first considers the implications of biological evolution for economic preferences. It analyzes why utility functions evolved, considers evidence that utility is both hedonic and adaptive, and suggests why such adaptation might have evolved. Time preference and attitudes to risk are treated--in particular, whether the former is exponential and the latter are selfish. Arguments for another form of interdependence--a concern with status--are treated. The paper then considers the evolution of rationality. One hypothesis examined is that human intelligence and longevity were forged by hunter-gatherer economies; another is that intelligence was spurred by competitive social interactions. http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/contents/March2001.html American Economic Association Nashville, Tennessee 0022-0515 Journal of Economic Literature 39 1 March 2001 3492 The School-to-Work Transition: A Cross-National Perspective PaulRyan School-to-work patterns and issues are discussed for seven economies (France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States). The emphasis is placed on differences across countries in the current labor market position of young people and recent trends therein, along with the institutions that regulate youth education, training, and employment. The power of public policies--including labor market deregulation, labor market programs, vocationalization of education, and apprenticeship--to improve youth outcomes is discussed, drawing on national evaluation literatures. Evidence of extensive policy failure points up the need to develop nationally appropriate institutions to improve school-to-work transitions. http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/contents/March2001.html American Economic Association Nashville, Tennessee 0022-0515 Journal of Economic Literature 39 1 March 2001 93104 Review of Meritocracy and Economic Inequality Edited by Kenneth Arrow, Sameul Bowles, and Steven Durlaf CharlesBrown The twelve essays in this volume deal with the definition of meritocracy and equality of opportunity, the causes and consequences of intelligence, schooling and inequality, and equal-opportunity policy options. They emphasize the importance of education and race, relative to IQ. Collectively, they argue that it may be possible to both reduce inequality and improve efficiency by reducing the market imperfections that contribute to inequality. http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/contents/March2001.html American Economic Association Nashville, Tennessee 0022-0515 Journal of Economic Literature 39 1 March 2001 105119 Fitness and Age: Review of Carroll and Hannan's Demography of Corporations and Industries BoyanJovanovic The Demography of Corporations and Industries (2000) by Glenn R. Carroll and T. Michael Hannan is a welcome addition to a body of empirical analysis of firms and industries that studies the effects of technological change and other changes that occur over time. The book contains a wealth of facts, and some new insights too. It will make useful secondary reading in some graduate courses in economics, and I would recommend it to anyone whose research relates to the concept of creative destruction. http://www.aeaweb.org/journal/contents/March2001.html