Exam 19: Earnings and Discrimination

It is argued that competitive markets provide a "natural remedy" to discriminatory wage practices. Which of the following is widely recognized as a potential limit to the potency of that natural remedy?

If an employer's behavior is supportive of the theory of efficiency wages, the employer would

Discrimination is usually not a profit-maximizing strategy.

Which of the following scenarios would serve to decrease the demand for unskilled labor in the U.S.?

Figure 19-5 -Refer to Figure 19-5. Given demand for labor, D1, and supply of labor, S1, what is the surplus of labor if a minimum wage of $8 per hour is imposed on this market?

The difference in wages that results from nonmonetary characteristics of different jobs is called the

A difference in wages that reflects differences in the nonpay features of two jobs is called

Suppose that a college student receives an offer for a summer internship with a stock brokerage firm. Unfortunately for the student, the internship is unpaid. Is it ever economically beneficial to accept an unpaid job?

Economists would argue that the gender wage gap is narrowing because of efficiency wages.

Which of the following sets of circumstances is likely to provide the best evidence in support of the theory of efficiency wages?

Artie and Angelina attended the same university, graduated with the same degree and grade point average, and are equally productive in their identical new jobs. Still, Angelina's salary is 10% lower than Artie's salary. One can conclude that Angelina likely suffers from

Suppose that the country of Libraria made a concerted effort to increase the educational level of its people. If this effort had no effect on the wages of its workers, one might consider this as evidence in support of

A company has two locations where it employs workers doing the same job and working the same hours. Other things the same most workers would prefer to live in location A, but location A has a higher cost of living than location B.

In empirical analyses of factors that help explain wages,

Why do major-league baseball players get paid more than minor-league players?

If an older worker earns less than a younger worker for the same job, we have proof of age discrimination.

Factory workers who work the day shift earn less per hour than similarly-skilled factory workers who work the night shift. The difference in pay is attributed to

Table 19-2 Source: US Census Bureau and Mankiw's calculations -Refer to Table 19-2. What conclusion can you draw about the changes in the gaps in earnings between skilled and unskilled workers between 1975 and 2011?

Superstars earn high incomes due to their ability to satisfy the demands of millions of people at once.

Coal mining is a dangerous and dirty job. Suppose someone developed new machinery that made coal mining safer and cleaner; at the same time, suppose it made coal miners more productive. We would expect that the wages of coal miners would