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.

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.

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.