Economics Commons^™

Of Heart And Mind: Social Policy Essays In Honor Of Sar A. Levitan, Garth L. Mangum Editor, Stephen L. Mangum Editor

Upjohn Press

The essays in this volume, authored by close friends, associates and students of Sar Levitan, pay tribute to the enduring mark he left on the field of social policy. The book is loosely organized around the method of analysis taught and practiced by Levitan: identifying problems through the examination of facts, developing a thorough understanding of institutions, assessing institutional policies, and evaluating policy options.

Wage Subsidies As A Labour Market Policy Tool, Lok Sang Ho

Centre for Public Policy Studies : CPPS Working Paper Series

In this paper, the author argues that the wage subsidy is a valuable policy tool in the face of structural changes such as would result from the removal of tariffs, or in the face of a need to assist the disadvantaged or redress distributional inequity. After discussing wage subsidies that target at specific segments of the population, which has the potential to improve both static and dynamic efficiency, the author goes on to discuss and contrast his universal wage subsidy proposal with the negative income tax and the minimum wage legislation, all of which are designed mainly for distributional purposes.

The 1996 Outlook For Travel And Tourism In Montana, Norma P. Nickerson, Neal A. Christensen

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

Summarizes Montana's 1995 performance and offers projections for 1996 in travel, tourism, and recreation. Produced for the annual Economic Outlook Seminar series sponsored by The University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research.

Closing The Growth And Equity Policy Divide: Rethinking The Role Of The Federal Government When Promoting Economic Development In Distressed Urban Communities, Edwin Melendez

Gastón Institute Publications

The objectives of this policy briefing memorandum are two-fold: first, to review the historical record concerning economic growth policies, particularly those overseen by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), and the experience with block grants for urban economic development; and, second, to discuss new roles the federal government might play in promoting the convergence of these two broad policy areas.

Family Structure And Institutionalization: Results From Merged Data, James Mcnally, Douglas Wolf

Center for Policy Research

Research on the patterns and behavioral consequences of kin networks among the older population is limited due to the shortcomings of most available survey data. Often, household surveys obtain little information on the number and characteristics of nonresident kin. Moreover, surveys are often confined to the noninstitutionalized population. One possible solution is to merge information from multiple sources, in order to achieve the requisite coverage of populations and data content. This paper reports on the development of a hybrid data base containing observations from the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) and the 1989 National Long-Term Care Survey …

Coresidence With An Older Mother: The Adult Child's Perspective, Beth Soldo, Douglas A. Wolf, Vicki A. Freedman

Center for Policy Research

We estimate models of coresidence between adult children and their elderly unmarried mothers, using data from the National Survey of Families and Households. The models include controls for women’s wages, along with other variables representing competing demands on their time. Among married couples we explicitly represent the “competition” for residential space between a child’s mother and mother-in-law. The information necessary to identify the observations of interest— respondents with a living, unmarried older mother— is missing in most cases. We address this problem using a multiple imputation strategy. The results indicate that wages, income, and parental health are related to parent-child …

What We Know About Multifamily Mortgage Originations And Why We Care, Amy D. Crews, Robert M. Dunsky, James R. Follain

Center for Policy Research

The three publicly available data sets on multifamily mortgage originations are examined and compared in an attempt to resolve the more than $20 billion discrepancy between the published estimates of the size of the conventional conforming multifamily lending market. The data are from the Survey of Mortgage Lending Activity, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, and the 1991 Residential Finance Survey. The analyses show that all three data sets have substantial weaknesses, and that the primary source of the differences in estimates is due to differences in the populations covered. The 1993 multifamily mortgage originations volume is estimated to be …

Emergency Extensions Of Unemployment Insurance: A Critical Review And Some New Empirical Findings, Stephen A. Woodbury

Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Needed: An Armey Commission On The Budget, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

The idea of a balanced budget is a fine start on the path towards governmental fiscal stability. The much harder task comes in identifying the specific spending cuts that should be made and attracting sufficient public support for such tough action. Currently, powerful interest groups are able to push very hard for the particular spending programs that benefit them. One solution to this problem would be to refer budget cuts to a bipartisan, blue-ribbon commission. Congress would then be required to vote up or down on the entire package, without opportunity to make exceptions for specific programs.

Tax Reform: Reconciling Economic Growth And Fairness, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

The emerging debate on fundamental tax reform in the United States is focused too narrowly. The key disagreement currently is between promoting economic growth and maintaining fairness via a progressive tax structure. Alarmingly, most of the reform proposals which have gained attention do eliminate the progressivity which has been a long-term hallmark of the federal income tax system. This paper demonstrates that it is possible to achieve both objectives while making basic improvements in the federal revenue structure.

Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Long-Run Implications Of Employment At Different Wage Rates For The Disadvantaged, Timothy J. Bartik

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Using Recurrence Probabilities To Estimate The Volume Of Multifamily Mortgage Originations, Robert M. Dunsky, James R. Follain, Jan Ondrich

Center for Policy Research

This study uses recurrence probabilities to generate forecasts of the volume of multifamily mortgage originations for the period 1992-2002. The approach concentrates on predicting the volume of property sales using the baseline of a multifamily prepayment hazard estimation to generate the predicted cohort-specific proportion of calendar sales in a given year. The forecast for the volume of originations depends strongly on the definition of the relevant mortgage population. A definition that excludes assumptions but otherwise includes all properties selling between 1971 and 1991 in which a first mortgage was used in its acquisition yields a forecast of $47.2 billion for …

Estimating The Volume Of Multifamily Mortgage Originations By Commercial Banks Using The Survey Of Mortgage Lending Activity And The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data, Amy D. Crews, Robert M. Dunsky, James R. Follain

Center for Policy Research

Two public data sets on multifamily mortgage originations are used to resolve the $15 billion discrepancy between the published estimates of the size of the multifamily lending market covered by commercial banks. The data are from the Survey of Mortgage Lending Activity and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The analyses show the primary sources of the differences in the estimates are differences in the populations covered, nonreporting biases, and the methods used to expand the reported values to aggregate values. The 1993 multifamily mortgage originations volume by commercial banks is estimated to be about $7-8 billion.

Growth-Inflation Tradeoff In China, Hiroyuki Imai

CAPS Working Paper Series

The high growth and wide fluctuations of fixed investment are the main driving forces of the rate of inflation in China in the reform period. Investment expansion generates strong demand pressures in the consumption goods market. Its inflationary impact is magnified further as it brings about higher wage costs during a boom. An implied short-run tradeoff is derived from dynamic simulation of a small macroeconomics model. In a given year, each additional percentage point of economic growth or investment growth leads to, respectively, a 2.7 or a 0.9 percent increase in the rate of inflation that year.

American Isolationism Versus The Global Marketplace, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

A growing paradox faces the United States. There is simultaneously a rise in support for isolationism alongside an increasing globalization of business and economic activity. Examined separately, both trends possess a certain logical appeal. After all, given the end of the Cold War, many Americans expect an increased focus on domestic issues, of which there are plenty. At the same time, a global marketplace based on international trade has arrived. This paper examines the tensions these two trends present when placed alongside one another.

State Primacy, Federal Consistency Or Federal-State Consensus: Can Cooperative Federalism Models From Other Laws Save The Public Lands?, Hope M. Babcock

Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits (October 11-13)

18 pages.

Contains references.

Agenda: Challenging Federal Ownership And Management: Public Lands And Public Benefits, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits (October 11-13)

Conference organizers, speakers and/or moderators included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Michael A. Gheleta, Teresa Rice, Elizabeth Ann (Betsy) Rieke and Charles F. Wilkinson.

In the face of numerous proposals for privatizing, marketing, and changing the management of public lands, the Natural Resources Law Center will hold its third annual fall public lands conference October 11-13, at the CU School of Law in Boulder.

A panel of public land users and neighbors, including timber, grazing, mining, recreation, and environmental interests, will address current discontent with public land policy and management. There will also be discussion …

Welfare To Work: Local Observations On A National Issue, Randall W. Eberts

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Vol. 18 No. 3 (1995): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Contributors: Vol 18 No. 3, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Contributors list of Vol. 18 (1995): Pacific Studies Full Issue 3

Vol. 18 No. 3 (1995): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US$40.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, and …

Books Received And Book Notices, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Book Listing for the Vol 18, No 3 Edition of the Pacific Studies Journal

Slow Motion: Economic Mobility Of Young Workers In The 1970s And 1980s, Greg J. Duncan, Johanne Boisjoly, Timothy M. Smeeding

Center for Policy Research

This paper investigates the question of how long it takes young male workers to earn enough to reach a given standard of living, e.g., enough to support a family. We use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics data on the earnings of children and their parents to answer these questions. Our findings are that all groups of men, classified by race, ethnicity, and education level, are taking longer to reach a given standard of living. Some, e.g., undereducated black males, will never reach middle class standards of living for themselves. Implications for household formation, marriage, and public policy are discussed …

A Model For Simulating Life Histories Of The Elderly: Model Design And Implementation Plans, Douglas Wolf, Jan Ondrich, Kenneth G. Manton, Eric Stallard, Max A. Woodbury, Larry Corder

Center for Policy Research

This paper provides a strategy for the development of a model of life-cycle change in functional status, economic well-being, and family composition, with particular attention to persons aged 65 and older. The overall goal is to use the model as the basis for individual-level projections of the later life cycle, that is, microsimulation. Specifically, the scope of the project includes: 1. Specification and estimation of equations for the dynamics of functional status, nursing home occupancy, income and death among those aged 65+, using data from the 1982, 1984, and 1989 National Long-Term Care Survey (NLTCS) linked to Medicare data for …

Social Safety Nets In Central Europe: Preparation For Accession To The European Union?, Lucjan Orlowski

WCBT Faculty Publications

Examines policy solutions aimed at reducing unemployment and at improving the pension and other social security systems in Central European countries. Reformulation of social safety nets and income transfers in preparation for accession to the European Union; Delay of structural adjustment; Prolongation of high unemployment; Inclusion of other elements not included in the existing programs.

Abolish The Department Of Commerce Now, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

Many people believe that the Department of Commerce has outlived its usefulness. Eliminating the whole department is one way for the federal government to reduce unnecessary costs and regulation. Certain divisions that are essential could be slimmed down and moved to other departments.

Terminating Trusteeship For The Federated States Of Micronesia And The Republic Of The Marshall Islands: Independence And Self-Sufficiency In The Post-Cold War Pacific, Ellen Boneparth, M. James Wilkinson

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Putting The Minimum Wage Debate In A Historical Context: Card And Krueger Meet George Stigler, Richard V. Burkhauser, Kenneth A. Couch, David Wittenburg

Center for Policy Research

Half a century ago George Stigler stated that evaluation of minimum wage policy should revolve around two questions: Does such legislation diminish poverty? Are there efficient alternatives? We argue that historically these were and continue to be appropriate questions to ask with respect to this policy. We then replicate and evaluate the analysis in Chapter 9 of Myth and Measurement: The New Economics of the Minimum Wage with regards to these questions. Given the evolution of the Earned Income Tax Credit we conclude that, aside from nostalgia, it is hard to explain the continued support for increasing the minimum wage …

Labor Earnings And Household Income Mobility In Reunified Germany: A Comparison Of The Eastern And Western States, Richard Hauser, Holger Fabig

Center for Policy Research

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) we compare the economic mobility of persons living in the eastern and western states of Germany between 1990 and 1995. We find that gross individual labor income mobility was initially much higher in the east than in the west following reunification, but by 1995 the gap had been greatly reduced. We find similar results when we change our measures to more accurately reflect economic well-being. Gross equivalent labor income and net equivalent income mobility were initially higher in the eastern states than in the western states but there has been convergence over …

The Nunn-Domenici Usa Tax: Analysis And Comparisons, Murray L. Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum Publications

A comparison showing the pros and cons of different tax plans: the USA Tax Plan, a Flat Tax, Value-Added Tax, and Retail Sales Tax.