On The Measurement Of Illegal Wage Discrimination: The Michael Jordan Paradox

Standard wage discrimination models assume that independent observers are able to distinguish a priori which workers are suffering from discrimination. However, this assumption may be inadequate when severe penalties can be imposed on discriminatory employers. Antidiscrimination laws will induce firms to behave in such a way that independent observers (for instance, lawyers, economists) cannot easily detect discriminatory practices. This problem can be solved by estimating the discriminatory wage gap using finite mixture or latent class models because these procedures do not require the a priori classification of workers. In fact, the standard discrimination model can be seen as a particular case of our method when the probabilities of belonging to a group are fixed (to one or zero). We estimate discrimination coefficients for Germany and United Kingdom using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). We obtain unambiguous higher discrimination in Germany for a wide set of measuresdiscrimination; wages; latent class model; finite mixture models.

Is an inequality-neutral flat tax reform really neutral?

Let us assume a revenue- and inequality-neutral flat tax reform shifting from a graduated-rate tax. Is this reform really distributional neutral? Traditionally, there has been a bias toward the inequality analysis, forgetting other relevant aspects of the income distribution. This kind of reforms implies a set of composite transfers, both progressive and regressive, even though inequality remains unchanged. This paper shows that polarization is a useful tool for characterizing this set of transfers caused by inequality-neutral tax reforms. A simulation exercise illustrates how polarization can be used to discriminate between two inequality-neutral tax alternatives.polarization, inequality, flat tax

Participation of Married Women in the Labour Market and the 'Added Worker Effect' in Europe

In this paper, we estimate labour participation equations for married women for eleven European countries, using data from the European Community Household Panel corresponding to the years 1994, 1995 and 1996. The main objective of our study is to test whether the 'added worker effect' holds. From our results it can be concluded that the labour market participation of the married woman basically depends on her personal and family characteristics, her non-wage income and her potential earnings. In only a few countries does the participation of married women seem to be related to the work status of the husband. However, the consistently significant and negative effect of the woman's non-wage income (basically the husband's wage) prevents the 'added worker effect' from being completely rejected as a hypothesis. It seems, therefore, that female labour market participation continues to have a 'secondary' role in the family sphere in some European countries.Female participation ; added worker effect

The use of email attachments to increase reading compliance in foreign language classes.

This is the first quantitative research on reading compliance in foreign language courses. It investigated the effect of email attachments with the assigned readings to promote read­ing compliance of the textbook. Their effect on learning gains was measured by 16 grammar or vocabulary quizzes during a semester. 31 intermediate L2 Spanish students assigned to two group conditions, those receiving the emails and those who did not, also completed a questionnaire at the end of the semester about their preparedness for the quizzes and about their opinions about the email attachments. Results indicated that participants in the email group prepared more often for the next class and obtained significantly better grades in the quizzes than those in the regular one. Pushing the readings at students via regular emails helped them access the contents to read them before class, which in turn increased their preparedness and boosted their leaning gains

Forecasting accuracy of behavioural models for participation in the arts

A first version of this paper was presented at the University of Catania, 2011 and at the fifth European Workshop on Applied Cultural Economics in Dublin, 2011.forecasting, count data, prediction intervals, Brier scores, bootstrapping, arts

The impact of college students’ motivational orientations and the social dimension of emotional intelligence in their willingness to study abroad

This study investigated the effect of motivational orientations and the social aspects of emotional intelligence (EI) on L2 Spanish learners’ willingness to participate in a study abroad program. The only significant result was the correlation between an integrative motivational orientation and the Altruism Scale score (N = 68, r = .290, p \u3c .05), indicating that those learners with a higher desire to learn the L2 in order to interact with members of the target community also showed more responsiveness to others as measured by empathy, nurturance, helpfulness, and social responsibility. No additional interactions were found between the motivational orientations and the social aspects of EI. Neither the motivational orientations (integrative/instrumental) nor the social subscales of EI used correlated with the L2 learners’ participation in a short-term (three weeks to Costa Rica, N = 30) or a long-term study abroad program (a full semester to Spain, N = 13). This finding is indicative that those variables do not seem to have an influential effect or predictability on whether participants would ultimately continue their study of L2 Spanish in a foreign country or at home in the near future