Compared to offering no unemployment benefits, the unemployment insurance system
of the United States probably
A. leads to shorter spells of unemployment.
B. increases the unemployment rate.
C. leads to lower post-unemployment wages.
D. provides for a lower standard of living while unemployed.
E. is less costly for firms.
The labor demand curve shows how many workers the firm is willing to hire
A. at any particular time.
B. at a particular amount of labor supplied.
C. at any given wage.
D. into high-skill jobs.
E. when demand for the firms output is low.
When the tax rate on wages falls (so that the take-home wage or effective wage
increases), the budget line
A. rotates out along the consumption axis.
B. shifts out, parallel to the old budget line.
C. rotates in along the leisure axis.
D. shifts in, parallel to the old budget line.
E. rotates out along the leisure axis.
Approximately what percent of people in the United States typically receive more
education than just a high school degree?
A. 15%
B. 25%
C. 50%
D. 65%
E. 90%
The Gini coefficient in a perfectly unequal society will have a Gini coefficient of _____
while a perfectly equal society will have a Gini coefficient equal to _____.
A. 0; 1
B. 1; 0
C. 0; infinity
D. infinity; 0
E. -1; 1
The cost of offering safe versus risky jobs in the highway construction industry vary
across firms. In the end, we would expect the market equilibrium to
A. randomly match workers to jobs.
B. match workers who dislike risk to the highest paying jobs.
C. match workers who dislike risk to firms that find it cheapest to offer safe jobs.
D. have firms that face a high cost of offering safe jobs to pay the lowest wages.
E. have firms randomly choose their level of safety.
What does the Gini coefficient measure?
A. The rate of growth of income inequality over time.
B. The degree of inequality in an income distribution.
C. The correlation coefficient between income and education.
D. The covariance of income and education.
E. The degree of tax incidence paid by poor workers.
If the seasonally unemployed no longer qualified for unemployment insurance benefits,
then we would expect
A. no seasonal unemployment.
B. no seasonal workers.
C. higher wages for seasonal workers.
D. lower wages for seasonal workers.
E. greater UI benefits paid to non-seasonal workers.
The intertemporal substitution hypothesis suggests that hours of work should
A. be greatest during peak wage years.
B. steadily increase with age.
C. steadily decrease with age.
D. be greater for women than for men.
E. increase during retirement.
Which of the following does not describe a perfectly discriminating monopsonist?
A. The firm hires different workers at different wages.
B. The firm hires workers to the point where the labor supply curve intersects the firms
labor demand curve.
C. The firms marginal cost of labor equals the labor supply curve faced by the firm.
D. The firm uses fewer hours of labor than it would if it were in a competitive market.
E. The wage-labor outcome is efficient.
Which age group experiences the highest rates of unemployment in the United States?
A. 16 to 24 years-old.
B. 25 to 34 years-old.
C. 35 to 44 years-old.
D. 45 to 54 years-old.
E. 55 to 64 years-old.
What prevents a firm from offering a delayed-compensation scheme to its employees
and then firing each worker when the workers value of marginal product equals his or
her wage?
A. Firms that offer delayed-compensation schemes are legally barred from firing
workers.
B. Profits would increase by allowing the worker to continue work at a lower wage.
C. The worker will have already retired by the time the workers value of marginal
product equals his or her wage.
D. The firm would lose the trust of the workers, and new workers would not accept the
payment scheme.
E. Profits are insensitive to when the worker quits his job.
The value of life is calculated by comparing
A. wages to risk levels.
B. risk levels to the number of children in a workers household.
C. wages to the number of children in a workers household.
D. average life expectancy by occupation to average risk levels by industry.
E. average wages to the average retirement age.
Which of the following does not describe the historical patterns of unionization and
strike activity in the United States?
A. The percent of workers involved in a strike has steadily decreased over the last 40
years.
B. The percent of public sector employees who are in a union remained relatively
constant from 1950 to 2010.
C. The percent of time lost to a strike has steadily decreased over the last 40 years.
D. The percent of private sector employees who are in a union has steadily decreased
over the last 40 years.
E. Union membership did not change very much from 1900 to 1935.
The positive correlation between ability and human capital investments stretches out”
wages in the population, generating what?
A. A positively skewed wage distribution.
B. A negatively skewed wage distribution.
C. An inconsistent wage distribution.
D. A uniform wage distribution.
E. A symmetric wage distribution.
Paula is considering going to law school. If she does, she will spend $60,000 on tuition
and books to get a college education (during the first time period), $120,000 on tuition
and books to get a law degree (during the second time period), and her law degree will
earn her $620,000 during the remainder of her work-life (during the third time period).
Paulas time preference for money is associated with a per-period interest rate of 20
percent. Approximately what is Paulas present value of obtaining a law degree?
A. $100,100
B. $210,400
C. $270,500
D. $440,000
E. $621,900