Journal of Economic and Social Measurement - Volume 32, issue 1

Authors: Durand, René

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: "The utility of the wage when a given volume of labour is employed is equal to the marginal disutility of that amount of employment. That is to say, the real wage of an employed person is that which is just sufficient (in the estimation …of the employed persons themselves) to induce the volume of labour actually employed to be forthcoming;" (John Maynard Keynes [10, p.5]. It is current practice in many statistical offices around the world to adjust price indices for quality changes over time in sampled items. This paper reviews briefly how these adjustments are done showing that they amount to changing quantity measurement units. It argues that quantity units must be chosen so that they leave households indifferent between old and new units of outputs (based on their utility) and old and new units of non-produced inputs (based on their disutility). Produced inputs prices, such as computer prices, are adjusted based on measured changes in their utility/productivity rather than based on their costs/disutility. Is that the correct solution? Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2007-0272

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 1-14, 2007

Authors: Yun, Myeong-Su

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper proposes an extension of the Oaxaca decomposition equation using generalized residuals. The proposed extension is so general that it enables researchers to study wage differentials whatever complicating econometric issues exist, e.g., selection, simultaneity and endogeneity, and whatever econometric …techniques are used in order to obtain consistent estimates of wage equations. The key insight is that the residuals effect in the decomposition equation is identical to the differences in average generalized residuals which represent differences in the average effects of selection, simultaneity and endogeneity on wages. Decomposing the racial wage gap with the selection bias correction model, the empirical illustration shows how to implement this extension. Show more

Keywords: Oaxaca decomposition, selection, generalized residuals

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2006-0280

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 15-22, 2007

Authors: Renfro, Charles G.

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2007-0271

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 23-28, 2007

Authors: Adelman, Irma

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This short note describes the context and computational aspects of the research for the paper The Dynamic Properties of the Klein-Goldberger Model. This work constituted the first attempt to solve a macroeconomic model using the electronic computer.

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2007-0269

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 29-33, 2007

Authors: Desai, Meghnad

Article Type: Other

Abstract: This short article describes, from a personal perspective, the state of the art of econometric computing during the transitional period of the early 1960s when desktop calculating machines and the electronic computer were both used by economists very nearly indifferently. …Essentially, the choice at this time was between spending time learning to program and then employ a computer versus perhaps the same amount of time making the calculations as was done before the computer using a calculating machine. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2007-0270

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 35-38, 2007

Authors: McCullough, B.D.

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2006-0281

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 39-40, 2007

Authors: Bailer, Heiko | Martin, R. Douglas

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The empirical three-step, cross-sectional regression method of Fama and MacBeth [9] (FM) used classical ordinary least squares regression, averages, and t-statistics to reach its conclusions. Unfortunately, averages and t-statistics, taken over different volatility regimes and fractions of outlying data, can …be severely biased. This paper replicates and extends FM's results to recent time periods, analyzes the choice of time period, and replaces the classical estimators with a theoretically well-justified robust estimator in various parts of the three-step approach. While FM's conclusions on non-linearity and non-beta related risk could be confirmed, the conclusions of having, on average, a positive risk and return trade-off could not be confirmed. Show more

DOI: 10.3233/JEM-2007-0268

Citation: Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 41-63, 2007