Can Inter-Industry Wage Differentials Justify Strategic Trade Policy?

This paper examines the relationship between labor market imperfections and trade policies. The available evidence suggests that pervasive industry wage differentials of up to 20 percent remain even after controlling for differences in observed measures of workers' skill and the effects of unions. Theoretical analysis indicates that given non-competitive wage differentials of this magnitude policies directed at encouraging employment in high-wage sectors could significantly enhance allocative efficiency. For the United States and other developed countries, such policies are more likely to involve export promotion than import substitution. Increased international trade flows (at least through 1984) have been associated with increased employment in high-wage U.S. manufacturing industries relative to low-wage U.S. manufacturing industries.

Evaluation of a strain-gage load calibration on a low-aspect-ratio wing structure at elevated temperature

The environmental aspect of elevated temperature and its relationship to the science of strain gage calibrations of aircraft structures are addressed. A section of a wing designed for a high-speed aircraft structure was used to study this problem. This structure was instrumented with strain gages calibrated at both elevated and room temperatures. Load equations derived from a high-temperature load calibration were compared with equations derived from an identical load calibration at room temperature. The implications of the high temperature load calibration were studied from the viewpoint of applicability and necessity. Load equations derived from the room temperature load calibration resulted in generally lower equation standard errors than equations derived from the elevated temperature load calibration. A distributed load was applied to the structure at elevated temperature and strain gage outputs were measured. This applied load was then calculated using equations derived from both the room temperature and elevated temperature calibration data. It was found that no significant differences between the two equation systems existed in terms of computing this applied distributed load, as long as the thermal shifts resulting from thermal stresses could be identified. This identification requires a heating of the structure. Therefore, it is concluded that for this structure, a high temperature load calibration is not required. However, a heating of the structure is required to determine thermal shifts

Word Generation in Boston Public Schools: Natural History of a Literacy Intervention

Describes a program to teach high-frequency academic vocabulary and discourses skills, promote effective teaching strategies for vocabulary, comprehension, and discussion, and facilitate faculty collaboration; its implementation; and evaluation results

Layoffs, Recall and the Duration of Unemployment

This paper shows that the prospect of recall to previous employer is important for a significant number of the unemployed in the United States and that taking into account the possibility of recalls has important implications for the study of unemployment spell durations. A job search model that allows for recalls is shown to lead naturally to a competing risks specification of the distribution of layoff unemployment spell durations in which recall and the taking of a new job are alternate routes for leaving unemployment. A large sample of individual layoff unemployment spell observations derived from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics is analyzed. The common finding for samples containing individuals with nonnegligible recall prospects of an escape rate from unemployment that declines with spell duration is shown to almost entirely result from a declining recall rate. The apparent declining recall rate may be indicative of important uncontrolled heterogeneity rather than true negative duration dependence. Strong positive duration dependence in the new job finding rate is uncovered for UI recipients. Factors raising the likelihood and value of recall appear to depress the new job finding rate. Substantial differences in the distribution of unemployment spell durations are found for UI recipients and nonrecipients. Large positive jumps in both the recall rate and new job finding rate are apparent around the point of UI benefits exhaustion for UI recipients. The results indicate that the potential duration of UI benefits plays an important role in the timing of recalls and of new job acceptances.