Exam 15: Inequality in Earnings

The Gini coefficient is 0.20. What is the area under the Lorenz curve?

The coefficient of variation of incomes of full-time workers is highest among

Among male college graduates, returns to experience have ________ since 1980, tending to

Which of these decades had the greatest increase in inequality?

Which of these wage trends has reduced the rate of increase in income inequality since 1980?

A decrease in the price of capital will cause the demand for unskilled labor to shift to the left if capital and unskilled labor are

Since 1980 the earnings of middle-aged college-educated males has ________ relative to those of high-school-educated males; and the earnings of middle-aged college-educated females has ________ relative to those of high-school-educated females.

An increase in inequality will always be accompanied by

Which of the following could NOT increase the earnings gap between highly-educated and less-educated workers?

Which of the following best describes the statement "Earnings at the 80th percentile were $20,000"?

The greatest growth of earnings disparities within an occupation in the 1980s occurred

Assume the demand for high tech good is perfectly inelastic. If workers producing high tech goods become more productive, then these workers employment will ________ and their wages will ________.

If the fraction of the people in the middle of the income distribution decreases by 20 percent with half of these moving to the lower end and the other half to the upper end, then income inequality will

The area under a Lorenz curve is 0.30. What is its Gini coefficient?

Which of the following is not a major cause of the increase in the inequality since 1980?

Jeb and his brother John are in manufacturing jobs that pay the mean earnings in the United States. They then become farmers and their usual earnings, while remaining the same on average as the mean earings in the United States, vary from year to year. In one year, Jeb earns $20,000 more than usual while John earns $20,000 less than usual. If this occurred for many workers, then

Since 1980 the real wages of unskilled workers in most of Western Europe have ________ and this helps explain why their unemployment rates have ________.

During the 1980s, inequality increased. While the wages of high school graduates remained unchanged, the wages of college graduates increased dramatically. Which of the following (if true) could explain why this occurred? (Note that the "quality" of education includes the value of what is being taught)

If technical change in the form of an increase in the use of capital increased the demand for skilled labor, then capital and skilled labor must be

The increase in wage inequality has been more rapid in the United States than in other industrialized countries for all the following reasons EXCEPT