Handbook On Economics Of Discrimination And Affirmative Action

This Handbook deals with theoretical and empirical evidence on the economics of discrimination and affirmative action across the world, assessed over a variety of social identities, such as caste, race, ethnicity, gender, disability, age, tribal status. It also outlines methodological advances in this area, with plenty of additional references for the interested reader. It combines theoretical frameworks developed in the West with historical writings about discrimination and social justice from primarily Indian philosophers, aspects which are typically not found under one roof. It offers the reader a combination of insights into theories across a range of disciplines, as well as evidence, data –both quantitative and qualitative, in addition to the latest methodological advances in the estimation of discrimination – econometric, experimental, mixed-methods.

Discrimination's dynamic nature means that no single theory, method, data or study should be relied upon to assess its magnitude, causes, or remedies. Despite some gains in our understanding, these remain active areas of debate among researchers, practitioners and policymakers. The specially commissioned papers in this volume, all by distinguished contributors, present the full range of issues related to this complex and challenging problem.

The three scholarly articles that make up this book examine affirmative action in economic terms, measuring and discussing the economic cost of racial discrimination in employment and the economic cost of equal opportunity enacted to combat discrimination and its effects. The short article by Andrew Brimmer, an economist who was the first black governor of the Federal Reserve Board, calculates the financial cost to the nation of racial discrimination in employment, education, and training. Cecilia Conrad's article surveys an array of experts and concludes that the direct financial costs to government and private industry of maintaining affirmative action policies is quite small; she also concludes that the popular perception of a productivity loss caused by affirmative action has little basis in demonstrable fact. Finally, Lee Badgett and Heidi Hartmann examine the many studies that have been done to assess the effectiveness of affirmative action policies in increasing employment and wage opportunities for both women and African Americans; they conclude that such policies have had measurable effects, though they have often been slight.

øOne of the great successes of the law and economics movement has been the use of economic models to explain the structure and function of broad areas of law. The original contributions to this volume epitomize that tradition, offering state-of-the-art

C. Goals and timetables

Synopsis: Thoroughly classroom tested, this introductory text provides a balanced, up-to-date, non-mathematical examination of the economic theory underlying the analysis of inequality, poverty, mobility, and income distribution in the United States.

For the past twenty years this book has been distinguished by its relevant coverage, tight organization, multidisciplinary perspective, and timeliness. The ninth edition preserves these qualities while incorporating new reference material. A three=part organization covers the dimensions of poverty and inequality, causes of poverty, and policy options. For social workers, welfare professionals, and job counselors.