Deck 30: The Economics of Race and Discrimination

Question 1

In terms of wages for full-time employment, men make ___ more than what women make.

A)1%
B)5%
C)15%
D)23%

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Doing something that is not necessarily discriminatory on its face, but impacts some groups more negatively than others is called

A)statistical discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)rational discrimination.
D)adverse impact discrimination.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The unemployment rate for African-Americans is, across age categories,

A)about the same as that for whites.
B)one percentage points lower than that of whites.
C)several percentage points higher than that of whites.
D)less than half that of whites.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The labor force participation rate for men is

A)less than that of women.
B)equal to that of women.
C)greater than that of women and increasing.
D)greater than that of women but decreasing.

Question 5

The percentage of African-Americans whose incomes are in the top 40% of income earners in the U.S. is

A)about 23%.
B)about 36%.
C)about 40%
D)about 50%.

Question 6

If you look at median income from all sources, women make ___ of what men make.

A)10%
B)61%
C)78%
D)nearly equal

Question 7

Among the two most important methods economists use to identify illegal discrimination are

A)"regression" techniques.
B)random number simulations.
C)laboratory experiments.
D)lottery number analyses.

Question 8

From 1987 to 1996 the number of minority owned firms has

A)grown, but only by 5 to 10 percent.
B)grown by 46%.
C)tripled.
D)actually decreased.

Question 9

If you look at earnings of full-time workers, women make ___ of what men make.

A)10%
B)62%
C)81%
D)nearly equal

Question 10

Treating two otherwise equal people differently because of their race is called

A)"perfect" discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)rational discrimination.
D)adverse impact discrimination.

Question 11

Of the following, which can be legal in hiring

A)rational discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)adverse impact discrimination.
D)statistical discrimination.

Question 12

The labor force participation rate for women 16 and over has

A)increased from 38% in the 1960s to 57% today.
B)increased from 8% in the 1960s to 18% today.
C)remained steady for nearly 40 years at 50%.
D)decreased since the 1960s.

Question 13

In 2015 median income for males was $36,302 while it was ______ for females.

A)$35,633
B)$29,957
C)$22,240
D)$12,130

Question 14

In terms of weekly earnings for full-time workers

A)black workers earn about the same as whites.
B)black workers earn about 77% of what white families earn.
C)black workers earn about 58% of what white families earn.
D)black workers earn about 42% of what white families earn.

Question 15

Adjusting labor force participation rates for the age of the population suggests that

A)the raw number correctly states the decrease in the rate among women.
B)the raw number overstates the increase in the rate among women.
C)the raw number understates the increase in the rate among women.
D)the labor force participation rate among women is higher than that of men.

Question 16

In terms of all income, men make ____ more than women make.

A)99%
B)90%
C)78%
D)63%

Question 17

The percentage of African-Americans whose incomes are in the bottom 40% of income earners in the U.S. is

A)about 24%.
B)about 37%.
C)about 47%.
D)about 57%.

Question 18

In terms of median family income

A)black families earn about the same as whites.
B)black families earn about 85% of what white families earn.
C)black families earn about 61% of what white families earn.
D)black families earn about 44% of what white families earn.

Question 19

The poverty rate among women is _____ that of men.

A)less than
B)greater than
C)roughly equal to
D)not measured the same way as

Question 20

In terms of personal bankruptcies, the incidence of filings among single women has

A)decreased substantially.
B)increased substantially.
C)decreased slightly.
D)remained steady.

Question 21

If, in the experience of a manager of a large company who hires for hundreds of positions per year, whites are more likely than blacks to leave within a year, then a manager who hires only blacks to save money is

A)employing statistical discrimination.
B)perfectly within his rights.
C)violating the law.
D)employing statistical discrimination and violating the law.

Question 22

Using supply and demand to model employment discrimination, if blacks are legally confined to certain professions then the wage paid to whites in other professions will be ______ and the wage paid to blacks will be ______.

A)just right; inefficiently low
B)inefficiently high; inefficiently low
C)just right; inefficiently high
D)inefficiently high; just right

Question 23

Suppose a shipping company required all applicants to lift fifty pound boxes on and off a truck for an hour to test their strength and endurance and suppose that resulted in 50 out of 100 black applicants being hired and 10 out of 100 white applicants being hired. If this test measured the performance required on the job then this would be an example of

A)statistical discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)rational discrimination.
D)adverse impact discrimination.

Question 24

Suppose a shipping company required all applicants to lift fifty pound boxes on and off a truck for an hour to test their strength and endurance and suppose that resulted in 50 out of 100 male applicants to be hired and 10 out of 100 female applicants to be hired. If this test measured the performance required on the job then this would be an example of

A)statistical discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)comprehensive discrimination.
D)adverse impact discrimination.

Question 25

When government agents are sent as actors into a bank to test whether loans are more likely to be granted to whites than blacks they are using a statistical technique called

A)auditing.
B)regression.
C)standard deviating.
D)quadratification.

Question 26

Requiring new 16 year old teenage male drivers to pay more for auto insurance than their 16 year old female counterparts is an example of

A)statistical discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)comprehensive discrimination.
D)adverse impact discrimination.

Question 27

Using supply and demand to model employment discrimination, if blacks are legally confined to certain professions then the ______ for workers in these professions is inefficiently ______.

A)supply; high
B)demand; high
C)supply; low
D)demand; low

Question 28

Suppose a plant has 1000 employees, half of whom are from a minority population. Suppose further that, in order to cut costs, a manager must layoff 100 employees. If she chooses only non-minority workers to lay off because an analysis of productivity data suggests they are, on average 5% less efficient then she is

A)on perfectly sound legal ground.
B)using statistical discrimination and it is legal.
C)using inferential discrimination and it is illegal.
D)using statistical discrimination and it is illegal.

Question 29

Many economists suggest that absent legal mechanisms of discrimination, the wage paid to whites and blacks will converge because

A)if employers can hire whites and blacks at the same wage they will hire equal numbers.
B)employers will feel guilty about hiring only whites.
C)employers will feel guilty about paying whites more when other firms pay equally.
D)it will be in the interest of profit minded employers to hire blacks, thus bidding up their wages.

Question 30

When government agents are sent as actors into a bank to test whether loans are more likely to be granted to males than females they are using a statistical technique called

A)auditing.
B)regression.
C)standard deviating.
D)quadratification.

Question 31

Among the two most important methods economists use to identify illegal discrimination are

A)lottery number analysis.
B)"regression" techniques.
C)"audit" methods.
D)"regression" techniques and "audit" methods.

Question 32

If a job requires a level of strength that the average woman cannot typically achieve, then interviewing and hiring no women would be an example of

A)statistical discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)comprehensive discrimination.
D)adverse impact discrimination.

Question 33

Treating two otherwise equal people differently because of their gender or race is called

A)statistical discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)rational discrimination.
D)adverse impact discrimination.

Question 34

Statistical discrimination is "rational" in the sense that it is consistent with profit maximization,

A)as a result it is legal.
B)as a result it is illegal.
C)so it is weighed by the courts, against how bad it looks.
D)but if statistical evidence is used to exclusively hire or fire one race or another it is illegal.

Question 35

Doing something that is not necessarily discriminatory on its face, but is motivated by reference to well-established empirical regularities is

A)statistical discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)rational discrimination.
D)adverse impact discrimination.

Question 36

When government agents use real life data on bank loans to determine if males and females are treated equally they are using the statistical technique called

A)auditing.
B)regression.
C)standard deviating.
D)quadratification.

Question 37

If a restaurant in an integrated community has an entirely white wait-staff, economists suggest it is

A)the employer who must be the bigoted party.
B)employers who must be reacting to bigoted consumers.
C)most likely to be due to random chance.
D)either employers discriminating for their own purposes or doing so on behalf of their bigoted customers.

Question 38

If a restaurant hired only men to be bartenders because that is the way their patrons wanted it this would be an example of

A)statistical discrimination.
B)disparate treatment discrimination.
C)rational discrimination.
D)adverse impact discrimination.

Question 39

When government agents use real life data on bank loans to determine if whites and blacks are treated equally they are using the statistical technique called

A)auditing.
B)regression.
C)standard deviating.
D)quadratification.

Question 40

The removal of legal barriers alone may not be sufficient to eliminate the pay gap between whites and blacks because the increased competition may not be able to overcome

A)the wide gap in pay.
B)employer preferences to discriminate.
C)customer preferences that lead employers to discriminate.
D)employer preferences to discriminate and customer preferences that lead employers to discriminate.

Question 41

Which of the following reasons why women earn less than men is considered by some to be economic, and by others to be sociological?

A)women are the only ones who can give birth.
B)the average man is physically stronger than the average women.
C)women outnumber men.
D)women are more likely to choose flexible part-time employment to manage the needs of their family.

Question 42

The reasons why women are paid less than men are mainly

A)economic … they are less capable therefore paid less.
B)sociological … society imposes restrictions on women that limit their pay.
C)psychological … women only think they're paid less.
D)political … men are in control of the political system and government controls pay.

Question 43

The removal of legal barriers alone may not be sufficient to eliminate the pay gap between men and women, because the increased competition may not be able to overcome

A)the indifference businesses have to profit.
B)employer preferences to discriminate.
C)the wide gap in pay.
D)employer preferences to discriminate and the wide gap in pay.

Question 44

If a woman is out of the work force for 10 years while raising small children she is legally entitled to

A)her old job back at the wage she was making at the time.
B)her old job back at what wage the current occupant of that job is making.
C)an entry level job with her old employer.
D)nothing with regard to her previous job.

Question 45

The removal of legal barriers alone may not be sufficient to eliminate the pay gap between men and women because the increased competition may not be able to overcome

A)the wide gap in pay.
B)the indifference businesses have to profit.
C)customer preferences that lead employers to discriminate.
D)the indifference businesses have to profit and customer preferences that lead employers to discriminate.

Question 46

Using supply and demand to model employment discrimination, if women are legally or socially confined to certain professions such as nursing or teaching, then the ______ of workers in these professions is inefficiently ______.

A)supply; high
B)demand; high
C)supply; low
D)demand; low

Question 47

Using supply and demand to model employment discrimination, if women are legally or socially confined to certain professions such as nursing or teaching, then the wage paid to men in other professions will be ______ and the wage paid to women will be ______.

A)inefficiently low; inefficiently low
B)inefficiently high; inefficiently low
C)inefficiently low; inefficiently high
D)inefficiently high; just right

Question 48

Economists Fryer and Loury argued that affirmative action

A)has actually reduced the graduation and bar passage rates of African American law students.
B)necessarily undermines minorities' incentive to invest in their own education.
C)is the reason so many white males are passed over for promotion in favor of minorities.
D)"color-blind" proxies for race easily achieve diversity without reference to race itself.

Question 49

The removal of legal barriers alone may not be sufficient to eliminate the pay gap between men and women because the increased competition may not be able to overcome

A)the wide gap in pay.
B)employer preferences to discriminate.
C)customer preferences that lead employers to discriminate.
D)employer preferences to discriminate and customer preferences that lead employers to discriminate.

Question 50

Economists Fryer and Loury argued that affirmative action

A)necessarily undermines minorities' incentive to invest in their own education.
B)"color-blind" proxies for race easily achieve diversity without reference to race itself.
C)is the reason so many white males are passed over for promotion in favor of minorities.
D)can increase minorities' prospective return on any investment in their own education.

Question 51

Which of the following reasons why women earn less than men is considered by some to be economic, and by others to be sociological?

A)women are the only ones who can give birth.
B)the average man is physically stronger than the average women.
C)women outnumber men.
D)women are more likely to choose to stay at home to raise small children.

Question 52

Looking at differences in median income to find evidence of current employment discrimination overlooks the fact that

A)men work fewer hours per week on average.
B)men work more hours per week on average.
C)woman have less unearned income.
D)men work fewer hours per week on average and woman have less unearned income.

Question 53

If a woman is pregnant and her boss must decide to give a promotion that entails a move to another city in a time frame that coincides with the expected birth of her child then the boss

A)can chose to by-pass her and give the pregnancy as a legally acceptable reason.
B)can chose to by-pass her and give the pregnancy as a legally acceptable reason as long as the next promotion goes to her.
C)must give her the promotion regardless of other candidates.
D)must ignore the pregnancy in making the decision of whom to promote.

Question 54

As unemployment rose during the recession of 2007-2009, black teenage unemployment

A)rose to 49.2%, a rate more than twice that of white teenagers.
B)rose to 18.2%, a rate less than half that of white teenagers.
C)fell to 18.2%, a rate less than half that of white teenagers.
D)remained essentially unchanged.

Question 55

Which of the following forms of affirmative action is unconstitutional?

A)A quota on hiring black firefighters in an urban area with a history of court-documented discrimination.
B)A federal mandate for highway contractors to advertise for employees widely.
C)A court ordered affirmative action admissions policy for a university found to have discriminated in the past.
D)A quota for hiring minority teachers in a public school district seeking to have a more diverse faculty.

Question 56

Which of the following reasons why women earn less than men is considered by some to be economic, and by others to be sociological?

A)women are the only ones who can give birth.
B)the average man is physically stronger than the average women.
C)women outnumber men.
D)women are more likely to choose low-paying, "helping" professions.

Question 57

The use of quotas in affirmative action are legal only when

A)necessary to achieve the employer's diversity goals.
B)court-mandated, through a verdict or consent decree.
C)the employer is a government agency.
D)publicly advertised in newspapers, television or radio.

Question 58

Though stay-at-home dads are growing rapidly in numbers, when one parent stays at home ___ of the time it is the mother.

A)98%
B)88%
C)78%
D)68%

Question 59

Many economists suggest that absent legal mechanisms of discrimination, the wage paid to men and women will converge because

A)if employers can hire men and women at the same wage they will hire equal numbers.
B)employers will feel guilty about hiring only men.
C)employers will feel guilty about paying men more when other firms pay equally.
D)it will be in the interest of profit minded employers to hire women, thus bidding up their wages.

Question 60

Economists Fryer and Loury argued that affirmative action

A)necessarily undermines minorities' incentive to invest in their own education.
B)is necessary because social networks ("who you know")are so important in hiring practices.
C)is the reason so many white males are passed over for promotion in favor of minorities.
D)"color-blind" proxies for race easily achieve diversity without reference to race itself.