Understanding the "Family Gap" in Pay for Women with Children

By Jane Waldfogel

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

As the gender gap in pay between women and men has been narrowing, the 'family gap' in pay between mothers and nonmothers has been widening. One reason may be the institutional structure in the United States, which has emphasized equal pay and opportunity...

Rankings of U.S. Economics Departments

By Richard Dusansky and Clayton J. Vernon

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

Economics departments in the United States are ranked using the criterion of publication in a set of eight leading journals. The publication period is 1990-94 inclusive, and faculty assignments to departments are for fall semester 1995. The ranking is com...

Nobel Laureate Robert E. Lucas, Jr.: Architect of Modern Macroeconomics

By V. V. Chari

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

In 1995, Robert E. Lucas was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science. This review places Lucas's work in a historical context and evaluates the effect of this work on the economics profession. Lucas's central contribution is that he develope...

Data Watch: The World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study Household Surveys

By Margaret E. Grosh and Paul Glewwe

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

Since 1985, the World Bank has been collecting household survey data in developing countries that provide a rich source of information for assessing household welfare, understanding household behavior, and evaluating the impact of government policies. Thi...

Retrospectives: Price Indexes and General Exchange Values

By Joseph Persky

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

The spreading use of indexes in the nineteenth century raised basic questions concerning the nature of absolute value in a neoclassical world of relative exchange values. Where Walsh held that the 'right' index for the general exchange value of money woul...

Classroom Games: Speculation and Bubbles in an Asset Market

By Sheryl B. Ball and Charles A. Holt

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

This paper describes a classroom exercise in which students trade assets of uncertain value in a sequence of market periods. Assets pay one-dollar dividends at the end of each period, but once the dividend is paid there is fixed probability that the asset...

Policy Watch: The Introduction of Indexed Government Debt in the United States

By David W. Wilcox

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

This article describes the early phases of the development of the market for indexed government debt in the United States. The first such bonds were issued in 1997--one set with a maturity of ten years, the other with a maturity of five years. In the wake...

Recommendations for Further Reading

By Bernard Saffran

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

Correspondence

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

Notes

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

Front Matter

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter 1998

Distinguished Lecture on Economics in Government: The Private Uses of Public Interests: Incentives and Institutions

By Joseph Stiglitz

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998

[Joseph Stiglitz was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1993-95, and chairman of the CEA from 1995 through February 1997.] Today, I want to share with you some of my thoughts about the possibilities and limitations of government. These thou...

Evidence on Discrimination in Consumer Markets

[Symposium: Discrimination in Product, Credit and Labor Markets]

By John Yinger

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998

Economists have contributed to the measurement of racial and ethnic discrimination in consumption and to the identification of its causes, especially in housing markets and car sales. To test the hypothesis that discrimination exists, economists have turn...

Evidence on Discrimination in Mortgage Lending

[Symposium: Discrimination in Product, Credit and Labor Markets]

By Helen F. Ladd

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998

Much of the controversy about whether mortgage lenders discriminate against minorities can be explained in terms of the confusion about how to define discrimination. Based on the legal definition, careful studies of loan denial rates, such as that done by...

Evidence on Discrimination in Employment: Codes of Color, Codes of Gender

[Symposium: Discrimination in Product, Credit and Labor Markets]

By William A. Darity and Patrick L. Mason

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998

There is substantial racial and gender disparity in the American economy. As we will demonstrate, discriminatory treatment within the labor market is a major cause of this inequality. Yet, there appear to have been particular periods in which racial minor...

What Has Economics to Say about Racial Discrimination?

[Symposium: Discrimination in Product, Credit and Labor Markets]

By Kenneth J. Arrow

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998

Racial discrimination pervades every aspect of a society in which it is found. It is found above all in attitudes of both races, but also in social relations, in intermarriage, in residential location, and, frequently, in legal barriers. It is also found...

Detecting Discrimination

[Symposium: Discrimination in Product, Credit and Labor Markets]

By James J. Heckman

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998

The evidence on discrimination produced from the audit method is examined. Audits survey the average firm and not the marginal firm which determines the level of market discrimination. Taken on its own terms, there is little evidence of labor market discr...

Discrimination in the Post-Civil Rights Era: Beyond Market Interactions

[Symposium: Discrimination in Product, Credit and Labor Markets]

By Glenn C. Loury

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998

This comment argues that discrimination against blacks remains important, especially in labor markets, but that its extent is modest both by historical standards and in relation to supply-side racial disparities. It contends that the racial skills gap is ...

Urban Diversity and Economic Growth

[Symposium: Urban Agglomeration]

By John M. Quigley

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998

This paper considers the heterogeneity and diversity of cities as sources of economic growth. It links modern notions of economic growth to the distinguishing characteristics of cities and to the external effects on consumption and production produced by ...

Are Cities Dying?

[Symposium: Urban Agglomeration]

By Edward L. Glaeser

Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998

This paper organizes a discussion of the costs and benefits of cities around the question: Are cities becoming obsolete? While minimizing transport costs for manufactured goods no longer justifies the existence of cities, they still facilitate the divisio...