經济学概论第章失业.pptVIP

* In later chapters, we will study short-run economic fluctuations and learn more about the causes and possible cures of cyclical unemployment. For the rest of this chapter, our job is understanding the various causes of the natural rate of unemployment. * * WARNING: If you are teaching with Mankiw for the first time, please note that his definition of structural unemployment may be different than the definition you’ve seen in other textbooks. Other books commonly define structural unemployment as arising from a mismatch between the skills or locations of workers and the skill requirements or locations of jobs. Such textbooks assert that such unemployment results from sectoral shifts. Mankiw’s position is as follows: If all wages were flexible, then they would adjust after structural changes so that all workers with any given skill set in any given location would be employed. The cause of “structural unemployment” therefore cannot be changes in the structure of demand and production; the cause must be wages that fail to adjust following these changes. * On this graph, WE is the equilibrium wage. * As in previous chapters, “eq’m” is short for “equilibrium.” The textbook has an FYI box entitled “Who earns the minimum wage?” It summarizes a recent study by the Department of Labor detailing minimum wage earners. * Information about the union wage premium differs. The textbook says that union wages are 10-20% higher. Other sources, such as the AFL-CIO and the New York Times article featured in the “In the News Box,” say the figure is closer to 20%, not including the increased benefits that union workers enjoy. The BLS () reports that, in 2004, median weekly earnings of full-time employed workers were $781 for union members and $612 for non-union members – a difference of 28%. So the range of estimates seems to be about 10-30%. I picked 20%, a nice round number in the middle of this range, to put on this slide in the 3rd bullet point. In pr