Journal of Economic Literature
Vol. 39, No. 1, March 2001
Contents
Economics Online
Drucilla Ekwurzel and John McMillan
The Biological Basis of Economic Behavior
Arthur J. Robson
The School-to-Work Transition: A Cross-National Perspective
Paul Ryan
Review of Meritocracy and Economic Inequality.
Arrow, Bowles, and Durlaf, editors
Charles Brown
Fitness and Age: A Review of Carroll and Hannan's
Demography of Corporations and Industries
Boyan Jovanovic
Book Reviews
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Economics Online
Drucilla Ekwurzel and John McMillan
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.
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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.
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The School-to-Work Transition: A Cross-National Perspective
Paul Ryan
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.
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Review of Meritocracy and Economic Inequality. Arrow, Bowles,
and Durlaf, editors
Charles Brown
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.
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Fitness and Age: A Review of Carroll and Hannan's Demography of Corporations
and Industries
Boyan Jovanovic
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.
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