Exam 26: Earnings, Productivity, and the Job Market

A) a continuing increase in the use of computers and other kinds of information technology.
B) employers forcing more output from workers, who have become victims of new technologies.
C) the shrinkage of the labor force, so that output per worker is rising.
D) the rise of employment in the highly productive manufacturing sector.

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A) increasing the marginal productivity of labor.
B) keeping young people out of the labor force, thereby reducing the supply of labor.
C) teaching workers how to demand more pay.
D) teaching people to read and write, although education beyond this point does not seem to increase worker productivity.

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A) discrimination by customers is the most common type of economic discrimination.
B) differences in human capital and job characteristics must be important in explaining the differences in wages.
C) firms apparently are not profit maximizers.
D) the market has failed to properly allocate wages to different workers.

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A) worker productivity is higher in the United States.
B) in the United States, less capital is required per employee.
C) China has more natural resources that employees can work with.
D) the United States has more people and, therefore, a larger number of skilled workers.

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A) an increase in the wages of cowhands.
B) a decrease in the wages of cowhands because supply would be enlarged.
C) no impact on wages, which are determined by supply and demand, not preferences.
D) a decrease in the wages of cowhands because demand would be reduced.

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A) A decrease in the amount of training needed to perform this job.
B) An increase in the danger of this job.
C) A decrease in the danger of this job.
D) An improvement in the working conditions associated with this job.
E) An increase in the number of workers with the skills for this job.

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A) Both I and II are true.
B) I is true; II is false.
C) I is false; II is true.
D) Both I and II are false.

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A) The employer provides a generous pension plan.
B) The work is widely viewed as safe and not stressful.
C) The job is widely viewed as interesting and prestigious.
D) The job requires employees to move from city to city quite often.

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A) Automated production processes are generally adopted regardless of whether they reduce costs.
B) Automated production processes eliminate jobs and, thereby, endanger our future living standards.
C) Cost-reducing automated production techniques will expand output directly and/or release scarce resources for the expansion of output in other areas.
D) Use of the most advanced technology will always minimize the cost of a productive activity.

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A) worker preferences are an important source of earning differentials.
B) economics ranks one set of worker preferences as more desirable than another.
C) some people can be paid less for doing hard work while others have to be paid a premium for doing a similar task.
D) skill levels of laborers are a minor consideration in wage rate determination.

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A) The job requires employees to work the night shift from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
B) The job is prestigious, and the work is quite interesting.
C) The job is widely viewed as dangerous.
D) The job requires employees to move from city to city quite often.

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A) The group with the lowest earnings must be the victim of employment discrimination.
B) The group with the lowest earnings must be less productive.
C) The group with the highest earnings is more highly motivated and materialistic.
D) Without consideration of preferences and productivity factors, differences in unadjusted mean earnings do not necessarily reflect employment discrimination.

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A) reduce labor productivity.
B) replace workers.
C) decrease per-unit costs of production.
D) lower wages.

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A) employers who discriminate against blacks and other minorities will have lower costs than rival firms that hire employees strictly on the basis of productivity.
B) after adjusting for factors such as education, experience, and location, the earnings of black men are almost identical to the earnings of white men.
C) if minority and white employees in a skill category are equally productive, the profit motive provides employers with a strong incentive to hire minority employees if they are available at a lower wage.
D) the empirical evidence indicates that the earnings gap between whites and blacks is entirely the result of worker preference.

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A) The employer provides a generous pension plan.
B) The work is widely viewed as safe and not stressful.
C) The job is widely viewed as interesting and prestigious.
D) all of the above

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Clearly, Happyland cannot continue in it...

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A) the weather is better in the United States.
B) a larger proportion of the labor force is unionized in the United States.
C) less capital per employee is required in the United States.
D) the human and physical capital of American workers exceeds that of their Indian counterparts.

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A) they reduce the need for workers.
B) they lower production costs.
C) they lengthen the production process.
D) other firms in the industry are doing it.

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