It is a well-known fact that the extent of unionization is less in states with right-to-work (RTW) laws. A framework is developed for determining whether RTW laws actually cause a decrease in the extent of unionization or whether they simply mirror preexisting tastes of workers against unions. A set of empirical tests is proposed that can distinguish between these explanations based on differences between RTW and non-RTW states in the demand for union representation, the supply of union jobs relative to that demand, and the observed union/nonunion wage differential. These tests are implemented using disaggregated data from the Quality of Employment Survey and the Current Population Survey, and a pattern is found that is consistent with the hypothesis that RTW laws simply mirror preexisting preferences against union representation.

Affirmative action under Executive Order 11246 ranks among the most controversial of domestic federal policies. This study asks whether affirmative action has been successful in promoting the employment of minorities and females. It compares the change in demographics between 1974 and 1980 at more than sixty-eight thousand establishments, and finds that both minority and female employment have increased faster at establishments subject to affirmative action. Compliance reviews, while not well targeted are also found to have been effective.

The effects on consumption and retirement of the length of the horizon are examined. At any given age people will work more and consume less if they expect to live longer. The Terman sample of gifted individuals in 1972 and 1977 is used to relate work status to the length of the horizon, as proxied by parents' longevity. The results suggest the expected positive effect on effort, but its magnitude is quite small. The panel from the Retirement History Survey is used, and effects of the horizon on consumption and retirement jointly are estimated for 1973 and 1975. There is a small positive effect of a more distant horizon (proxied by the number of living parents) on work effort and a stronger but still fairly small negative effect on consumption. Goods and leisure are consumed jointly, suggesting their complementarity in household production, and spending propensities out of social security wealth are far below those out of pension wealth.

This paper examines the role of economic factors in determining retirement behavior using a unique new data archive on more than 8,700 workers covered by 10 different pension plans. We build on our earlier work by estimating several different retirement models including both linear and discrete choice formulations. This framework provides new insights into how and why retirement ages differ across firms. We conclude that older workers' income opportunities differ depending on their pension rules, which in turn have a powerful influence on their retirement patterns. In addition, the models indicate that older workers' tastes for income are not uniform, either across individuals or across firms. Finally, we show that retirement age differences are due in part to differences in worker preferences and in part to differences in income opportunities. There appears to be some evidence of worker sorting across pension plans.

Depreciation, Inflation, Price levels, Assets' useful lives

In this paper we present and estimate an adjustment cost model of industry employment which takes explicit account of both expectations and aggregation over different labour types. The resulting model is subject to a large number of tests and is a highly robust representation of the data. Finally forecasts are produced for manufacturing employment up to 1990.

This study assesses the stock market's reaction to a series of events leading up to a mandated change in accounting for retail land sales. Evidence is found to support the conclusion that the market reacted to some of these events in a manner consistent with the effects of the accounting change on debt annagement contracts. A distinctive aspect of the analysis is the efficient use of security returns data to detect market reactions and to derive empirical distributions of test statistics employed. The analysis is extended by a model for grouping regression equations known as seemingly unrelated regressions. However, the gains from this extension are modest.

The natural growth rate of most renewable resource stocks is in part stochastic. This paper examines the implications of such ecological uncertainty for competitive equilibrium in a market with property rights. We show that stochastic fluctuations add a risk premium to the rate of return required to keep a unit of stock in situ, and we examine the effects of fluctuations on resource rent. Examples are used to show that extraction can increase, decrease, or be left unchanged as the variance of the fluctuations increases, depending on the extent of market "self-correction". Regulatory implications are also discussed.

J. S. S. Edwards, M. J. Keen; Wealth Maximization and the Cost of Capital: A Comment*, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 99, Issue 1, 1 February 1