Econ ch 30 reading

The current labor force participation rate for women in the United States is approximately _____%.

57.3

When income from all sources is examined, the data show men earning, on average, approximately ______% more than women.

59

State whether the following is a myth or the truth: "Affirmative action undercuts the incentive to invest in oneself."

Myth

State whether the following is a myth or the truth: "Color-blind policies are an efficient substitute for color-sighted affirmative action policies."

Myth

Suppose in a group of 100 eligible people, 38 are working full-time, 12 are working part-time, and 10 are unemployed. For this group, the labor force participation rate is ______%.

60

______ discrimination is ______ be defended on the grounds that it stems from a business necessity.

Adverse impact; legal if it can

True or false: Economists and sociologists tend to agree on the approach to take in assessing explanations for male-female wage differentials.

False

Which action best illustrates a case of disparate treatment discrimination?

Hiring only men

Affirmative action policies clearly impose costs upon society. If those policies successfully correct the market failure of unequal wages for equal work, then they will produce ______ in societal well-being.

a net gain

Policies aimed at hastening the process of achieving equality are referred to as ______ actions.

affirmative

Of the two approaches economists use to study discrimination, the one that generally reveals a larger bias problem in society is ______.

auditing

The creation of fake identities to detect the presence of discrimination is a key element of the _____ approach.

auditing

In the case of real estate, auditors have found that real estate agents often show clients properties in neighborhoods ______.

composed of people of the client's race

If market-generated differences between minorities and whites and between men and women are caused solely by discrimination, then affirmative action policies should be viewed as ______.

correcting a market failure

In order for quotas to be legal, they must be ______.

court ordered

Which scenario most likely constitutes a case of adverse impact discrimination?

Logging companies employ a disproportionate number of (strong and young) men.

State whether the following is a myth or the truth: "The promotion of equal opportunity is insufficient to ensure racial equality, since previous advantages (e.g., family connections) will persist for a long time."

True

True or false: If a business necessity induces a company to hire mostly women, then men would likely lose a lawsuit alleging discrimination.

True

State whether the following is a myth or the truth: "Affirmative action policies may backfire, and harm those they are actually seeking to help."

Truth

According to traditional economists, outlawing discrimination would cause wage differentials between black and white workers to ______ over time thanks to the actions of ______.

disappear; profit-oriented employers

If you treat two otherwise equal people differently solely on the basis of their race or gender (or religion or national origin), you are engaging in _____ discrimination.

disparate treatment

The fact that wages have not equalized, despite making discrimination illegal, suggests the possibility that bigotry may be stronger than ______.

economic profit incentives

The labor force participation rate is the percentage of people in a particular category who are over 16, not institutionalized (or in the military), and ______.

employed or seeking employment

Affirmative action policies come in several gradations. Of the following examples, the mildest (or least consequential) is

employers must cast a wide net when hiring by, for example, recruiting in majority and minority venues.

The legal abolition of discrimination ______ firms with unbiased employment practices to hire cheaper black labor, thus putting great ______ pressure on those continuing to discriminate.

enables; competitive

The legal abolition of discrimination ______ firms with unbiased employment practices to outcompete those continuing to discriminate, forcing this latter group to _____ its biased hiring policies.

enables; give up

If consumers act upon bigoted preferences and refuse to patronize firms employing certain people, economic survival may prompt the firms to ______.

engage in illegal hiring practices

In the absence of discrimination and assuming the races perform tasks equally well, supply and demand modeling shows wages for blacks to be ______ wages for whites.

equal to

Compared to 1960, African Americans today are graduating at a _____ rate.

faster (higher)

In the case of automobile sales, auditors have found that auto dealers (white, black, male or female) tend to ______.

give white males the best deals

The poverty rate for women is ______ the rate for men.

higher than

Suppose discrimination produces two job markets, one for whites only, and one in which African Americans must work, but also allows white workers. In this case, a supply and demand model for each market will show a ______ wage in the market where ______.

higher; only whites work

If market-generated differences between minorities and whites and between men and women are caused by documented skill differences, then affirmative action policies will ______.

impose a net cost on society

Adverse impact discrimination _____ illegal.

may or may not be

The affirmative action policy that allows the hiring or admitting entity to set a minimum standard for employment or admission and then requires that all minority candidates who meet the standard be hired first is a policy that is ______ consequential.

moderately

According to crime victimization surveys, African Americans are ______.

more likely to be victimized by crime than whites

In terms of the economic distress it caused, the 2007-2009 recession was ______.

more severe for African American families

Even profit-oriented managers who are otherwise open-minded and impartial may show a hiring bias against members of a group if doing so ______.

pleases customers

Given the existence of a persistent wage gap, despite making discrimination illegal, implies the possibility that employers and managers of firms with market power put bigotry ahead of ______.

profit maximization

It has come to the attention of observers that some businesses are self-imposing quotas in order to ______.

protect themselves from legal troubles

The regression approach to assessing discrimination is ______ in nature.

quantitative

The most severe, or consequential, form of affirmative action policies are ______ . (Insert a single word.)

quotas

In some sports, players over the age of 30 are said to have "lost a step." This seems to be a physiological fact of life. Coupling this fact with their employers desire to be successful (i.e., win) leads to the early "retirement" of many such athletes, even very popular ones. This scenario neatly describes what is known as _____ discrimination.

rational

Discrimination that is based on sound statistical evidence and is consistent with a firm's goal of profit maximization is known as _____ discrimination.

rational or statistical

The two primary methods economists use to examine the extent of discrimination are ______.

regression analysis and auditing

Unemployment rates for blacks across age categories are ______ than rates for whites.

several percentage points higher

Variables such as experience with the same employer or preference for job flexibility (on the part of the job holder) would be more likely to be cited as manifestations of discrimination by ______.

sociologists than by economists

Any policy that is implemented to ______ the process of achieving ______ is referred to as an affirmative action.

speed up; equality

The labor force participation rate for women has ______.

steadily risen for decades