Workers’ Views of the Impact of Trade on Jobs

Although public policy is influenced by the perception that workers worry about the impact of trade on their jobs, there is little empirical evidence on what shapes such views. This paper uses new data to examine how workers' perceptions of the impact of trade are related to their career paths, job characteristics, and local labor market conditions. Surprisingly, given prior literature, we find that workers' perceptions primarily reflect local labor market conditions and education rather than labor market experiences or job characteristics

An Empirical Evaluation of the CPI Home Purchase Index, 1973-1978

This paper examines the accuracy of the home purchase component of the Consumer Price Index. Alternative monthly index series are simulated over the period 1973-1978 using FHA Master Statistical File data. Hedonic indexes derived from monthly regressions are compared to series constructed by the current CPI index method, which utilizes only age and size of house in correcting for intertemporal quality change. Of particular interest is the BLS practice of "linking out" price changes occurring when FHA raises its ceiling on the size of insurable mortgages. This procedure may have led to a significant downward bias in the official index. Copyright American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.