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| 1 | |
Globalization and skill-biased technological changes have resulted in ______ in the United States and ______ in Western Europe. |
| | A) | high rates of unemployment; increasing worker mobility |
| | B) | increasing labor market rigidity; increasing wage inequality |
| | C) | a slowdown in productivity growth; high rates of unemployment |
| | D) | high rates of unemployment; increasing wage inequality |
| | E) | increasing wage inequality; high rates of unemployment |
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| 2 | |
If new production technology is put into practice that allows workers to process more chickens per hour, then the real wage of unskilled workers in poultry processing plants is predicted to _____ and the employment of unskilled workers in poultry processing plants is predicted to _____. |
| | A) | increase; increase |
| | B) | increase; decrease |
| | C) | increase; not change |
| | D) | decrease; decrease |
| | E) | decrease; not change |
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| 3 | |
Which of the following is an example of structural unemployment? |
| | A) | Dora lost her job when the textile mill closed. She does not have skills to work in another industry and has been unemployed for over a year. |
| | B) | Marsha was laid off from her job with the airline because the recession has reduced the demand for airline travel. She expects to get her job back when the economy picks up. |
| | C) | Alan, a software engineer, lost his job when the internet startup he worked for went bankrupt. He interviewed with five companies in the area before taking a job with another firm in the industry. |
| | D) | Jim had a job as an engineer, but quit when his wife was transferred to another state. He looked for a month before finding a new job that he liked. |
| | E) | Hector looked for a job for five weeks after finishing college. He turned down several jobs that didn't use his skills, but now has a job requiring the expertise he gained in college. |
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| 4 | |
The demand for labor in a certain industry is ND = 50 - 5w, where ND is the number of workers employers want to hire and w is the real wage measured in dollars per hour. The supply of labor in the same industry is NS = 5 + 5w, where NS is the number of people willing to work. If a union contract requires that workers be paid $8 per hour, how many workers will be unemployed? |
| | A) | 25 |
| | B) | 30 |
| | C) | 35 |
| | D) | 40 |
| | E) | 45 |
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| 5 | |
High Tech, Inc. produces plastic chairs that sell for $10 each. The following table provides information about how many plastic chairs can be produced per hour. For simplicity assume that labor is the only input.
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How many workers will be hired, if the hourly wage for workers is $50? |
| | A) | 1 |
| | B) | 2 |
| | C) | 3 |
| | D) | 4 |
| | E) | 5 |
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| 6 | |
Skill-biased technological change affects the marginal products of _____ workers differently from those of _____ workers. |
| | A) | male; female |
| | B) | union; nonunion |
| | C) | government; private-sector |
| | D) | retail-industry; service-sector |
| | E) | highly trained; low-skilled |
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| 7 | |
All of the following describe trends in the labor markets of the industrialized world EXCEPT: |
| | A) | growing wage inequality. |
| | B) | a slowdown in real wage growth since the 1970s. |
| | C) | high rates of unemployment in Western Europe. |
| | D) | over-16 population growth rate exceeding the growth rate of new jobs in the United States. |
| | E) | substantial growth in real wages. |
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| 8 | |
In recent decades U.S. labor market trends differ from trends in western Europe because the U.S. has experienced relatively _____ than western Europe: |
| | A) | slower wage growth and slower job growth |
| | B) | more unemployment and slower wage growth |
| | C) | less unemployment and less wage inequality |
| | D) | greater wage inequality and greater job growth |
| | E) | greater unemployment and slower job growth |
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| 9 | |
Increased international trade increases the demand for a country's exports, _____ the demand for workers in export industries, and _____ their wages. |
| | A) | increases; increases |
| | B) | increases; decreases |
| | C) | does not change; increases |
| | D) | decreases; decreases |
| | E) | decreases; increase |
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| 10 | |
The increase in real wages and jobs accompanied by an increase in labor supply over the last century can be explained only if the demand for labor _____ the supply of labor. |
| | A) | increased much more than |
| | B) | increased much less than |
| | C) | increased by approximately the same amount as |
| | D) | decreased relative to |
| | E) | remained constant relative to |
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