Handbook of Labor Economics / Edition 5

by Orley Ashenfelter, R. Layard

Overview

The Handbook brings together a systematic review of the research topics, empirical findings, and methods that comprise modern labor economics. It serves as an introduction to what has been done in this field, while at the same time indicating possible future trends which will be important in both spheres of public and private decision-making. Part I is concerned with the classic topics of labor supply and demand, the size and nature of the elasticities between the two, and their impact on the wage structure. This analysis touches on two fundamental questions: what are the sources of income inequality, and what are the disincentive effects of attempts to produce a more equal income distribution The papers in Part II proceed from the common observation that the dissimilarity in worker skills and employer demands often tempers the outcomes that would be expected in frictionless labor markets. And the last section of the Handbook deals explicitly with the role of institutional structures (e.g. trade unions) that now form an important part of modern labor economics. For more information on the Handbooks in Economics series, please see our home page on http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/hes

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780444878564
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Publication date:	02/01/1987
Series:	Handbook of Labor Economics Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	828
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Part 12: Labor Markets and the Macroeconomy. 44. Labor markets and economic growth (R. Topel). 45. Microeconomic perspectives on aggregate labor markets (G. Bertola). 46. Labor market institutions and economic performance (S. Nickell, R. Layard). 47. The causes and consequences of long-term unemployment in Europe (S. Machin, A. Manning). Part 13: Policy Issues in the Labor Market. 48. Race and gender in the labor market (J. Altonji, R. Blank). 49. New developments in the economic analysis of retirement (R.L. Lumsdaine, O.S. Mitchell). 50. Health, health insurance and the labor market (J. Currie, B.C. Madrian). 51. Economic analysis of transfer programs targeted on people with disabilities (J. Bound, R.V. Burkhauser). 52. The economics of crime (R.B. Freeman). 53. Recent developments in public sector markets (R.G. Gregory, J. Borland).

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Leading economists summarize new research on the ways workers shape and are shaped by labor markets

Editorial Reviews

"Labor economics" has continued to expand both in the extent and depth of coverage in recent years. Volume 4 of the Handbook has succeeded in not only updating coverage in many areas, but in synthesizing studies and approaches in ways that contribute importantly to the field. Economists with interests in many areas, ranging from field experiments to gender to early-life human capital investments, will benefit from the excellent chapters in this volume." —Jere R. Behrman, University of Pennsylvania

"Volume 4 very nicely illustrates several important trends in labor economics: increased concern about proper research design, more contact with those in other social sciences, greater reliance on data collected by those conducting the research, and (in some areas) more productive interplay between theory and data. The authors have themselves been major contributors to these developments; they combine a participant's enthusiasm with a detached perspective on the challenges and gaps that remain." —Charles C. Brown, University of Michigan

"The entries in the Handbook of Labor Economics update, deepen, and broaden the analyses contained in earlier volumes. The first-rate papers here address important problems in labor economics, often from new perspectives. As is the case with Volumes 1-3, many of the papers in volume 4 are "must-reads" and sure to make it onto graduate reading lists." —Henry Farber, Princeton University

From the Publisher