In this rigorous and well-crafted work, Kenneth Wolpin examines the role of theory in inferential empirical work in economics and the social sciences in general--that is, any research that uses raw data to go beyond the mere statement of fact or the tabulation of statistics. He considers in...

"If you do not think about the future, you cannot have one," the British author John Galsworthy wrote at the beginning of this century. In An Agenda for the 21st Century, Rushworth Kidder, award-winning columnist for the Christian Science Monitor, has taken up Galsworthy's challenge. He conducts...

Economists disagree on what ails the economies of continental western Europe, which are widely perceived to be underperforming in terms of productivity and other metrics. Is it some deficiency in their economic system--in economic institutions or cultural attitudes? Is it some effect of their...

In Economy in Society, five prominent social scientists honor Michael J. Piore in original essays that explore key topics in Piore’s work and make significant independent contributions in their own right. Piore is distinctive for his original research that explores the interaction of social,...

As members of the baby boom generation head into retirement, they face an economic environment that has changed noticeably since their parents retired. Most of these new retirees will not be equipped, as many in the earlier generation were, with private pension plans, early retirement options,...

with a previously unpublished paper by the author and a new foreword by Edward Glaeser Fischer Black was known for his brilliance as well as for his sometimes controversial opinions. Highly respected for his scholarly writings in finance, with this book he moved into different territory,...

This book provides an accessible, balanced account of the insider-outsider theory of labor market activity. It focuses on how "insiders" (incumbent employees whose jobs are protected by various labor turnover costs) get market power, what they do with that power, and how their activities affect...

Many American families have not prospered in the new "knowledge economy." The layoffs, restructurings, and wage and benefit cuts that have followed the short-lived boom of the 1990s threaten our deeply held values of justice, fairness, family, and work. These values -- and not those superficial...

Over the last twenty years, fifteen Western European nations have removed most barriers to trade and migration, as well as most forms of national discrimination in economic and social exchange. Some have also given up their national currency and their ability to conduct independent monetary and...

It is no surprise that many fearful American workers see the call center operator in Bangalore or the factory worker in Guangzhou as a threat to their jobs. The emergence of China and India (along with other, smaller developing countries) as economic powers has doubled the supply of labor to the...