Meeting on Economic Fluctuations
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A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) (Ed.) Periodical Part NBER Reporter Online, Volume 1980 NBER Reporter Online Provided in Cooperation with: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Cambridge, Mass. Suggested Citation: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) (Ed.) (1980) : NBER Reporter Online, Volume 1980, NBER Reporter Online, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Cambridge, MA This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/62106 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, INC. FALL 1980 i ~ Program Report rl i:' Labor Economics Richard B. Freeman An understanding of the operation of labor markets and the institutional and structural changes that altered employment, wages, unemployment, and productivity in past years is critically needed by those responsible for public and private policy. In recent years, significant ad vances have been and are being made in the quality and quantity of labor market data, in the application of eco nomic theory to individual and market behavior, and in econometric analysis. The NBER Program in Labor Stud ies seeks to mobilize data, theories, and econometric tools to provide the detailed analysis needed to under stand the nature of the job market and problems of the labor market. Because standard data fi les are often i nad equate to resolve- research problems, the program has' made a major effort to develop new bodies of data, and to improve tools for analysis. Since my first report on the program, several projects have been completed or developed further, and many new projects have begun.' The finding of the Youth Un employment Project that the problems of joblessness The Program in Labor Studies is giving considerable are concentrated among a relatively small group of young attention to the economics of compensation. Under persons, disproportionately black, has led to a major Sherwin Rosen's direction, an NBER conference on the study of inner-city black youth.2 The evidence of signifi economics of compensation was organized for Novem cant nonwage effects of unionism has led to diverse ber 1980. The conference was particularly oriented to follow-up studies on productivity, seniority rules, disper ward issues in the determination of pay and other aspects sion of wages within establishments, and profits. Work of total compensation. In December 1981, several re on labor mobility and supply behavior and on compen searchers in the labor studies program will be involved in sation, using extensive longitudinal information on indi the Conference on the Measurement of Wages, Income, viduals, has also progressed considerably. Several Bu and Wealth, which will focus on empirical research. reau researchers have begun projects on the impact of During 1978 and 1980, the labor studies program con federal regulations on the labor market. Finally, work is ducted summer institutes in Cambridge. The 1978 institute beginning on the labor market's role in the productivity. dealt with the economics of unionism and economet slowdown. ric analyses of longitudinal data sets. The 1980 institute also brought together several recent doctoral graduates 'See "Program Report: Labor Economics," NBER Reporter, Winter from different universities, as well as the regular mem 1978, p. 1. 2See R. B. Freeman and David A. Wise, "Youth Unemployment," NBER bers of the program, to discuss the effects of pensions Summary Report, 1980. on labor market activity. The National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit Youth Unemployment research organization founded in 1920 and devoted to objective quan titative analysis of the American economy. Its officers and board of Because of the increased rate of unemployment among directors are: young workers, particularly minority youths, the NBER Chairman-Eli Shapiro Program in Labor Studies initiated in 1978 a major re'" Vice Chairman-Franklin A. Lindsay search effort involving scholars from many institutions Treasurer-Charles A. Walworth to analyze the nature, causes, and consequences of President and Chief Executive Officer-Martin Feldstein youth joblessness. The findings of the project have been Vice President-Charles E. McLure, Jr. Director of Finance and Administration-Sam Parker summarized in an NBER Summary Report and will not be detailed here. 3 DIRECTORS AT LARGE One of the major findings of the Youth Unemployment Project-the concentration of joblessness among a small Moses Abramovitz Michael H. Moskow George T. Conklin, Jr. James J. O'Leary group of young persons, especially minority youths, and Morton Ehrlich Peter G. Peterson the inadequacy of available data to analyze the problems Solomon Fabricant Robert V. Roosa facing these youths-has generated a major follow-up Martin Feldstein -Richard N. Rosett study, focused on inner-city minority youths. A question Edward L. Ginzton Bert Seidman naire seeking detailed information on labor market behav David L. Grove Eli Shapiro Walter W. Heller Stephen Stamas ior, income sources, allocation oftime, and social problems Walter E. Hoadley Lazare Teper such as crime and alcohol and drug use was developed Franklin A. Lindsay Donald S. Wasserman by Joseph Cooper and Richard B. Freeman. Mathemat Roy E. Moor Marina v. N. Whitman ica Policy Research, Inc., administered the survey to Geoffrey H. Moore roughly 2,400 inner-city youths in the worst poverty tracts in Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia with a response rate of over 80 percent. Analysis is currently being done DIRECTORS BY UNIVERSITY APPOINTMENT on these new data. Charles H. Berry, Princeton In a related piece of work, David Ellwood has been ex Otto Eckstein, Harvard ploring the extent to which residential segregation leads Walter D. Fisher, Northwestern to adverse labor market outcomes for young and other J. C. LaForce, California, Los Angeles Paul McCracken, Michigan black workers, studying in particular the Chicago mar Daniel McFadden, Massachusetts Institute of Technology ket. One interesting finding is that young blacks are found Almarin Phillips, Pennsylvania to spend more time journeyi ng to work than young whites. James L. Pierce, California, Berkeley In another youth labor market study, David Wise and Lloyd G. Reynolds, Yale Robert Meyer have examined the long-term effects of Nathan Rosenberg, Stanford James Simler, Minnesota youth joblessness on the number of weeks worked by William S. Vickrey, Columbia black youths. Consistent with their results for whites, Dudley Wallace, Duke they have found that the effects of youth joblessness on the Burton A. Weisbrod, Wisconsin time worked decrease rapidl~ as the young grow older. Arnold Zellner, Chicago While current NBER effort is focused on minority youths, issues related to other youths have not been neglected. James Medoff, Charles Brown, and Mary Corcoran are DIRECTORS BY APPOINTMENT OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS examining the impact of reservation wages and search Carl F. Christ, American Economic Association intensity on the ability of people to escape unemploy Robert C. Holland, Committee for Economic Development ment. It appears that the time spent searching for a job Stephan F. Kaliski, Canadian Economics Association has an impact on the length of unemployment spells, Albert G. Matamoros, National Association of BUSiness Economists whereas measured reservation wages have no apparent Douglass C. North, Economic History Association Rudolph A. Oswald, American Federation of Labor and Congress effect on unemployment. of Industrial Organizations Vocational education is one ofthe ways in which youths Joel Popkin, American Statistical Association prepare for participation in the labor market. Robert G. Edward Schuh, American Agricultural Economics Association Meyer is studying the effect high school work experi James C. Van Horne, American Finance Association ence has on subsequent wages and employment. In a Charles A. Walworth, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants related study, Alan Gustman and Thomas Steinmeier are investigating the vocational education system in the public schools-in particular, the meaning to be attrib Contributions to the National Bureau are tax deductible. Inquiries uted to rates of return and whether enrollments are ra concerning contributions may be addressed to Lawrence B. McFaddin, tioned or responsive to supply-side decisions young