Progressive Feminism Exposed
02 Nov 2014 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, discrimination, gender, human capital, occupational choice, politics - USA Tags: gender wage gap, myths and fallacies
Pop Stars Actually Do Die Too Young – The Atlantic
30 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, health and safety, labour economics, occupational choice Tags: compensating differentials, labour economics, music
Why the Gender Pay Gap is a Myth
29 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: employment discrimination, gender wage gap, labour economics, sex discrimination
Men are far more likely to choose careers that are more dangerous, so they naturally pay more under the principle of compensating differences. Top 10 most dangerous jobs: Fishers, loggers, aircraft pilots, farmers and ranchers, roofers, iron and steel workers, refuse and recyclable material collectors, industrial machinery installation and repair, truck drivers, construction labourers. They are male-dominated jobs.
Men are far more likely to enter higher-paying fields and occupations (by choice). Men are far more likely to take work in uncomfortable, isolated, and undesirable locations that pay more. Men work longer hours than women do. The average fulltime working man works 6 hours per week or 15 percent longer than the average fulltime working woman.
Women tend to work in fields dominated by women because these fields best satisfy women’s’ dual careers as workers and household managers. This can include less stressful work environments (noise, strenuous activity, etc.), more flexible policies regarding time off, and a number of other factors.
Men work longer hours than women do. The average fulltime working man works 6 hours per week or 15 percent longer than the average fulltime working woman. Even within the same career category, men are more likely to pursue high-stress and higher-paid areas of specialisation.
Despite all of the above, unmarried women who’ve never had a child actually earn more than unmarried men. In 2008, single, childless women between ages 22 and 30 were earning more than their male counterparts in most U.S. cities, with incomes that were 8% greater on average.
Women business owners make less than half of what male business owners make, which, since they have no boss, means it’s independent of discrimination. The reason for the disparity is money is the primary motivator for 76% of men versus only 29% of women. Women place a higher premium on shorter work weeks, proximity to home, fulfillment, autonomy, and safety.
Women lean toward jobs with fewer risks, more comfortable conditions, regular hours, more personal fulfillment and greater flexibility. Many women are willing to trade higher pay for other desirable job characteristics.
Men often take on jobs that involve physical labour, outdoor work, overnight shifts and dangerous conditions (which is why men suffer the overwhelming majority of injuries and deaths at the workplace). They choose to put up with unpleasant factors because they can earn more.
An Analysis of Reasons for the Disparity in Wages Between Men and Women for the U.S. Department of Labor in 2009 concluded that:
This study leads to the unambiguous conclusion that the differences in the compensation of men and women are the result of a multitude of factors and that the raw wage gap should not be used as the basis to justify corrective action.
Indeed, there may be nothing to correct. The differences in raw wages may be almost entirely the result of the individual choices being made by both male and female workers.
Pop stars should get hazard pay
29 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in health and safety, labour supply, occupational choice Tags: compensating differentials, hazard pay
The 27 club is a myth, but rock stars do die younger on.wsj.com/1teyte8 http://t.co/XvoLy56KNr—
Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 28, 2014
The Character Factory – NYTimes.com
28 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in human capital, labour economics, liberalism, occupational choice Tags: labour economics, Personality traits
How to cut prison numbers | vox
26 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, economics of crime, labour economics, occupational choice Tags: economics of crime, three strikes laws
The idea of selective incapacitation is to make a distinction between offenders with a high and a low propensity to commit crime.
Figure 1. Average rate of theft from car and domestic burglary – pre and post-introduction of the Dutch habitual offender law
Note: Plotted coefficients show the average crime rate relative to the month preceding introduction of the habitual offender law. The bars show the 95% confidence intervals. Based on monthly data for 31 cities during 1998-2007.
A habitual offender law adopted in the Netherlands in 2001 (Vollaard 2012). Only offenders with ten or more offenses on their criminal record faced enhanced prison-terms.
Between 2001 and 2007, 1,400 mostly non-violent, relatively old and invariably drug-addicted offenders were sentenced under the law. They accounted for 5% of the prison population. The law implied sentence enhancements of some 1,000%, typically a two-year rather than a two-month sentence for the affected offender population.
These sentence enhancements resulted in a 25% drop in acquisitive crime – the crimes that the affected offenders committed. The law did not have an impact on violent and sexual crimes, offenses that were rarely committed by the affected offenders.
Making the length of prison sentences more dependent on prior criminal records is a cost-effective crime policy. The Dutch policy affected only 5% of the prison population, but reduced property crime rates by 25% to 40%.
A Report on ‘Can Hearts and Minds be Bought?’ The Economics of Counterinsurgency in Iraq by Eli Berman, Jacob N. Shapiro and Joseph H. Felter
08 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, occupational choice, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA Tags: war on terror
Can hearts and minds be bought? A metaphorical question posed to ask whether government spending can aid counterinsurgency. In their paper, Berman et al. seek to answer this basic question using current literature, recent data and a model of counterinsurgency.
They chose Iraq for their research because it is presently significant, there is a large amount of data and most importantly, because it is characterised by insurgency and not by ‘conventional warfare’. It is this characteristic, argued by Berman et al. that will be seen more often in future conflicts that is so crucial to understand. Another important facet to note is that current ‘US Army counterinsurgency doctrine’ is not based on any social scientific theory; thereby making the need to understand insurgency more vital to aid spending.
By using current data, Berman et al. find on the whole that the correlation between reconstruction spending and violence across Iraqi districts…
View original post 2,864 more words
The reverse gender gap in part-time employment
04 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, human capital, labour economics, occupational choice Tags: compensating differentials, gender wage gap, part-time work, reversing gender gap
HT: economix
How to Make a Living as a Poet
01 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, economics of media and culture, labour economics, occupational choice Tags: starving artists
Minimum Wage Hikes Hurt Job-Keepers
29 Sep 2014 Leave a comment
in labour economics, minimum wage, occupational choice Tags: compensating differentials, minimum wage
What the jihadists who bought “Islam for Dummies” tell us about radicalisation
10 Sep 2014 1 Comment
in economics, economics of crime, labour economics, occupational choice Tags: economics of oppositional identities, Jihadists, Terrorism is an occupational choice
Sarwar and Ahmed, who pleaded guilty to terrorism offences, purchased Islam for Dummies and The Koran for Dummies. MI5’s behavioural science unit found that
“far from being religious zealots, a large number of those involved in terrorism do not practise their faith regularly. Many lack religious literacy and could . . . be regarded as religious novices.” The analysts concluded that “a well-established religious identity actually protects against violent radicalisation”
Most evidence point to moral outrage, disaffection, peer pressure, the search for a new identity, for a sense of belonging and purpose as drivers of radicalisation. Anthropologist Scott Atran pointed out in testimony to the US Senate in March 2010:
“. . . what inspires the most lethal terrorists in the world today is not so much the Quran or religious teachings as a thrilling cause and call to action that promises glory and esteem in the eyes of friends, and through friends, eternal respect and remembrance in the wider world”. He described wannabe jihadists as “bored, underemployed, overqualified and underwhelmed” young men for whom “jihad is an egalitarian, equal-opportunity employer . . . thrilling, glorious and cool”.
Chris Morris, the writer and director of the 2010 black comedy Four Lions – which satirised the ignorance, incompetence and sheer banality of British Muslim jihadists – said:
Terrorism is about ideology, but it’s also about berks.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments