Econ 151 PS5 Due Tuesday August 11

Immigration, Unions, InequalityEcon 151, Prof. Garret Christensen, UC Berkeley

DUE Tuesday August 11 before class, submitted via bCourse. Please do your best to put allyour answers in the appropriate direct order, so that it can be graded without flipping backand forth through numerous pages.

Be sure to list the names of other students in class with whom you worked.

Question 1 (5 points)Watch one of the following films:

• On the Waterfront

• Norma Rae

• Harlan County USA

• Roger & Me

Write one paragraph summarizing the union activity that takes place in the film, andtwo paragraphs reacting to it–is it accurate? Is it a “fair,” portrayal (whatever you thinkthat means)?

Let me know if you can’t acquire a copy of any of these. I’m just assuming that thelibrary/Netflix/the Internet makes watching any movie you want a breeze these days.Note that the last movie, by Michael Moore, might not have much union material, butit’s still definitely appropriate for a labor economics class–just pick the most relevanttopic covered in class to respond to.

Question 2 (1 point)Chapter 12 Review Question 8

Question 3 (1 point)Chapter 12 Problem 8

Question 4 (1 point)Chapter 13 Review Question 6 (Read the “Effects of Unions” section beginning on pg.472)

Question 5 (1 point)Chapter 13 Problem 6

Question 6 (1 point)Chapter 15 Review Question 8

Question 7 (4 points)

(a) (1 point) Define skill-biased technical change. (Also called skill-biased technologicalchange. Same thing.)

(b) (1 point) Explain how some believe that SBTC has led to the increased inequalityof wages in the US in recent decades. Read the Mankiw article in the Journal ofEconomic Perspectives on the syllabus for one explanation; also see textbook.

(c) (1 point) Read the abstract, introduction, and conclusion to John DiNardo andJorn-Steffen Pischke’s paper “The Returns to Computer Use Revisited: Have Pen-cils Changed the Wage Structure too?” in the February 1997 Quarterly Journal ofEconomics. Explain what they find. What does this paper seem to imply aboutSBTC as a source of wage inequality?

(d) (1 point) What do you, personally, think is the source of increased inequality inrecent decades? How much do you buy SBTC as an explanatory factor?

Question 8 (2 points)

(a) (1 point) In one or two sentences each, summarize the results of (1) H. Gregg Lewis’work (see pg. 484-485 of the text), (2) Lee and DiNardo’s paper (see syllabus), and(3) Lee and Mas’ paper (see syllabus). (You don’t need to read them to understandthe design, just to see the basic results.)

(b) (1 point) Is it possible for all these estimates to be correct at the same time? Ifso, explain how these seemingly somewhat contradictory results could in fact all betrue.

Question 9 (4 points)I’m tempted to ask you a question like “Briefly describe the empirical strategy of anypaper on immigration that is either (a) mentioned in your textbook, (b) listed on thesyllabus (but not Card’s Mariel boatlift paper) or (c) cited in the New York TimesMagazine article. Discuss how the author addresses the concern of omitted variablebias. What do the authors find to be the effect of low-skilled immigration on the wagesof low-skilled natives?” But instead of asking that now, I’ll give you a breather, sinceyou already have to look up a bunch of other articles for this assignment. Four freepoints.

Please bring your computer (or tablet—whatever you can type on) to class onWednesday August 12. You will complete anonymous online course

evaluations. I sincerely appreciate constructive feedback.

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