Knowledge that Transforms

Ofer Melamud of Northwestern University reviews “The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China” by Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Describes the structure of China's education system as a centralized hierarchical tournament, focusing on how this system influences China's institutions and social life.”

In this paper, I examine what we know and don’t know about both private and public workforce development in the United States. I highlight three of the most important categories of programs and policy: (i) workforce development in accredited higher education institutions, particularly community colleges; (ii) other publicly funded or private training and services, including “sectoral training” that targets specific high-demand sectors of the economy; and (iii) on-the-job or work-based learning, including apprenticeships. I summarize the theoretical literature on workforce development and a broad landscape of the three key categories. I synthesize the empirical literature on workforce development, beginning with comparisons of different data sources, outcome measures, and empirical methods used before reviewing the literature on estimated impacts in each of the three categories. I then consider the international evidence on workforce development and how public efforts differ between the United States and other industrial countries before concluding.

Gabriel Scheffler of University of Miami School of Law reviews “The Licensing Racket: How We Decide Who Is Allowed to Work, and Why It Goes Wrong” by Rebecca Haw Allensworth. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores the function of the professional licensing system, its effects on equality, public health, and the economy, and its role in the American Dream, emphasizing the need for a coherent, defensible theory for when licensing is required.”

Josh Lerner of Harvard University and NBER reviews “Patenting Life: Tales from the Front Lines of Intellectual Property and the New Biology” by Jorge Goldstein. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores the legal, commercial, and social debates surrounding the patenting of biological materials, whether living single cells, whole plants or animals, or the inert molecules that they produce or from which they are made.”

The categories listed below are used to classify books, book reviews, journal articles, and dissertations indexed in JEL and EconLit. New changes to the classification system appear as soon as possible on www.econlit.org . The JEL classification system may be used freely for scholarly purposes. We suggest the following format: “JEL: A10, B10, etc.”

Marshall Steinbaum of University of Utah reviews “Monopsony in Labor Markets: Theory, Evidence, and Public Policy” by Brianna L. Alderman and Roger D. Blair. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores the law and economics of wage-fixing agreements, no-poaching agreements, noncompete terms in labor contracts, unions and collective bargaining, mergers that affect labor markets, and wage discrimination.”

Yueran Ma of University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, and NBER reviews “The Making of Modern Corporate Finance: A History of the Ideas and How They Help Build the Wealth of Nations” by Donald H. Chew Jr. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores the significant potential of the corporate finance function to increase the efficiency and value of organizations, from publicly traded companies to nonprofit institutions and state-owned enterprises, promoting the argument that US private-sector productivity is the fundamental source of US economic and social wealth.”

Doctors often treat similar patients differently, which affects health outcomes and medical spending. We assess the recent literature on doctor decision-making through the lens of a model that incorporates diagnostic and procedural skills, beliefs, incentives, and differences in patient pools. Decision-making is affected by beliefs, training, experience, peer effects, financial incentives, and time constraints. Interventions to improve decision-making include providing information, guidelines, and technologies like electronic medical records and algorithmic decision tools. Economists have made progress in understanding doctor decision-making, but applications of that knowledge to improving health care are still limited.

Alex M. Thomas of School of Arts and Sciences, Azim Premji University reviews “Relocating Development Economics: The First Generation of Modern Indian Economists” by Maria Bach. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Explores the work of the Early Nationalists, the first generation of modern economists in India in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, focusing on how they produced forward-thinking knowledge on economic development.”

Editor's Note Our policy is to annotate all English-language books on economics and related subjects that are sent to us. A very small number of foreign-language books are called to our attention and annotated by our consulting editors or others. Our staff does not monitor and order books published; therefore, if an annotation of a book does not appear six months after the publication date, please write to us or the publisher concerning the book.