Economics 122: Poverty and the Distribution of Income

Last Updated November 6, 2000

Pomona College
Fall 2000
MWF 10:00-10:50 am
Professor Cecilia A. Conrad
Department of Economics
Pomona College
Room 201, Carnegie
Ext. 7-2970
 

cconrad@pomona.edu
 
 

Course Requirements;  Syllabus ; Lecture Notes; The Term Project; The Gini Calculator; Useful Links

Course Prerequisite - Economics 51 and 52 or the equivalent
Required Texts:
Levy, Frank, The New Dollars and Dreams: American Income and EconomicChange,Russell Sage Foundation,    1998;
Neill, John, Poverty and Inequality: The Political Economy of Redistribution, W.E. Upjohn Institute, 1997.

O'Neill, Dave M. and O'Neill, June Ellenoff. Lessons for Welfare Reform: An Analysis of the AFDC Caseload and Past Welfare-To-Work Programs, 1997.

Course Packet Available at Huntley.

Course Requirements


Assignment
Due Date*
Points Allocated
Class Participation
Ongoing
5
What is Income Inequality
September 4, 2000
2
Equality vs Efficiency Trade-off
September 6, 2000
2
Why the Growth in the Premium for Skill
September 18, 2000
2
Describing the Trends in Income Inequality -- a component of the term project
October 2, 2000
10
QUIZ ONE
September 22, 2000
12
Presidential Candidates and Income Inequality
October 18, 2000
2
What is Poverty?
October 23, 2000
2
Explaining Income Inequality -- a component of the term project
October 27, 2000
10
Incentive Effects of Transfer Programs
November 13, 2000
2
Poverty -- a component of the term project
November 20, 2000
10
QUIZ TWO
November 17, 2000
12
Final Paper -- a component of the term project
November 29, 2000
10
QUIZ THREE
December 11, 2000, 9:00 am
15
TOTAL POINTS
100

* All assignments will be docked 2 points for each day late.
 
 
 

Schedule of Lectures and Readings

I. Economic Inequality and Poverty: An Introduction A. Poverty, Income Inequality and Economics (Aug. 30th)
NO CLASS SEPTEMBER 1, 2000
B. Trends in Income Inequality in the United States (Sept. 4-6-h) Levy, Frank, The New Dollars and Dreams: American Income and Economic Change, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 1998, Chapters 1-3 and Appendix. C. International Comparisons (Sept. 8th ) Smeeding, Timothy M., "The International Evidence on Income Distribution in Modern Economies: Where Do We Stand?" in Poverty and Inequality: The Political Economy of Redistribution edited by Jon Neill, 1997. D. The Determinants of Economic Inequality (Sept. 11th)


II. Why the Growth in Wage Inequality?

A. Industrial and Occupational Change (Sept. 13-20th) Levy, Frank, The New Dollars and Dreams: American Income and Economic Change, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 1998. Chapters 4-5.
QUIZ -- September 22, 2000
B. Technological Change (Sept. 25-27th) Autor, David H., Lawrence F. Katz and Alan B. Krueger, "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed the Labor Market?" Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 113, #4, November 1998., pp. 1169-1213. C. Globalization (Sept. 29th?Oct. 2nd) Borjas, George J., "The Internationalization of the U.S. Labor Market and the Wage Structure," Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Policy Review, Vol. 1 (January 1995), pp. 3-8. D. Institutional Change (Oct. 4th) Fortin, Nichole M. and Thomas Lemieux, "Institutional Changes and Rising Wage Inequality: Is There a Linkage?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 11 (Spring 1997), pp. 75-96.


III. Demographic Change, Income Inequality and the Macroeconomy

A. Geography of Income Inequality (Oct. 6-9th) Levy, Frank, The New Dollars and Dreams: American Income and Economic Change, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 1998. Chapter 6. B. Household Structure and Income Inequality (Oct. 11-13th) Levy, Frank, The New Dollars and Dreams: American Income and Economic Change, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 1998. Chapter 6.
FALL RECESS - OCTOBER 16-17, 2000
C. Presidential Politics and Income Inequality (Oct. 18th)


IV. Poverty

A. How Many Poor? (Oct. 20-23rd) Sawhill, Isabel V. "Poverty in the U.S.: Why is it so Persistent?" The Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 26 (September 1988), P1073-1086.

Jorgenson, Dale W., "Did We Lose the War on Poverty?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 12, #1, Winter 1998., pp 79-96.

Triest, Robert K., "Has Poverty Gotten Worse?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 12, #1, Winter 1998, pp. 97-114.

Porter, Kathryn. Proposed Changes in the Official Measure of Poverty. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. November 15, 1999. http://www.cbpp.org/11-15-99wel.htm

 B. Why is Poverty So Persistent? (Oct. 25- 27th) Sawhill, Isabel V. "Poverty in the U.S.: Why Is It So Persistent?" The Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 26 (September 1988), P1086-1119.

Blank, Rebecca, "Why Has Economic Growth Been Such An Ineffective Tool Against Poverty in Recent Years?" in Poverty and Inequality: The Political Economy of Redistribution edited by Jon Neill, 1997.

 C. Transfer Policy and Poverty — Historical Overview (Nov. 6) Moffitt, Robert. "Incentive Effects of the U.S. Welfare System: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 30 (March 1992): pp.1-15. D. Incentive Effects of Transfer Programs (Nov. 6-8) Moffitt, Robert. "Incentive Effects of the U.S. Welfare System: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 30 (March 1992): pp.15-37 E. The Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty (Nov. 10th) Behrman, Jere R., "From Parent to Child," in Poverty and Inequality: The Political Economy of Redistribution edited by Jon Neill, 1997.


V. Fighting Poverty: Welfare Reform

A. Overview of Welfare Reform (Nov. 13th) Blank, Rebecca M., "Distinguished Lecture on Economics and Government --Fighting Poverty: Lessons From Recent U.S. History," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 14, #2, Spring 2000, pp. 3-19.

Haveman, Robert, "Welfare Report - 1996 Style," in Poverty and Inequality: The Political Economy of Redistribution edited by Jon Neill, 1997.

 B. Explaining the Decline in Caseloads (Nov. 15th) O'Neill, Dave and June Ellenoff O'Neill, Lessons for Welfare Reform: An Analysis of the AFDC Caseload and Past Welfare to Work Programs, W.E.Upjohn, 1997. Chaps. 2 and 3.

Council of Economic Advisors, "Explaining the Decline in Welfare Receipt, 1993-1996," http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/CEA/welfare.
 
 
QUIZ -- November 17, 2000
C. Welfare-to-Work and JOBS - Pre Reform Initiatives (Nov. 20-22nd) O'Neill, Dave and June Ellenoff O'Neill, Lessons for Welfare Reform: An Analysis of the AFDC Caseload and Past Welfare to Work Programs, W.E.Upjohn, 1997. Chaps. 4 and 5.

Moffitt, Robert. "Incentive Effects of the U.S. Welfare System: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 30 (March 1992): pp.37-57.
 
 

 D. Is Welfare Reform Working? (Nov. 27th) Loprest, Pamela. How Families That Left Welfare Are Doing: A National Picture. Assessing the New Federalism: Series B, No. B-1, August 1999. The Urban Institute. http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/series_b/anf_b1.html E. Making Work Pay (Nov. 29th-) Browning, Edgar K., "Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Income and Welfare," National Tax Journal, Vol. 48, #1, March 1995, pp. 23-43.

Katz, Lawrence, "Wage Subsidies for the Disadvantaged," in Generating Jobs: How to Increase Demand for Less-Skilled Workers, edited b Richard B. Freeman and Peter Gottschalk, Russell Sage Foundation, 1998.
NO CLASS — December 1, 2000


VI. Fighting Poverty — What Works? (Dec. 4-6th)
FINAL QUIZ -- DECEMBER 11, 2000

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