EC325 POVERTY AND DISCRIMINATION
(Fall 2007)

Professor Kevin Lang

 

For review sheet for the first midterm click here

For last year’s first midterm click here
For review sheet for second midterm click here

For last year’s second midterm click here
For review sheet for final click here

For last year’s final click here

 

For information on short paper click here



Office hours: MW 2:00-3:30

 

Office address: Room 302A. 264 Bay State Road

 

Telephone: x5694

 

e-mail: lang@bu.edu

 

Secretary: Norma Hardeo

 

Jump to:
Grading
Cheating
Preliminary Schedule and Readings

 

Overview: This course is an upper-division economics course designed to help you use your knowledge of economics and statistics to examine important policy issues. The course covers both theory (why is there discrimination? how can discrimination persist in a competitive labor market?) and empirical work (what explains long-run trends in poverty rates?). The goal of this course, however, is not to resolve these issues but to demonstrate their complexity. You may leave this course feeling that you know less about poverty and discrimination than you did when you began the course. In many ways the goal of this class is to help students to “think like an economist,” but the readings and discussion will not be limited to economics. Above all, I hope that this course will help students to develop as rigorous thinkers and precise presenters of their ideas. By the end of the course, students will be stronger analytical and critical thinkers, and will be much more adept at assessing the meaning and limits of arguments based on statistics.

 

Prerequisites: The formal requirements for this course are EC201 (or EC211) and EC305. Students have taken this course without those prerequisites, and I will cover the necessary theory in class. However, the course will generally be easier for those who have already taken intermediate economics. I strongly recommend against trying to take this course unless you have had at least introductory microeconomics.

 

We will also make extensive use of statistical data. The formal statistics required for this course will be covered briefly. Most of the issues concerning statistical analysis that are covered in this course are generally not covered in statistics courses. However, students who have not taken EC305 or the equivalent often feel that they would have been more comfortable with the new material had they taken a statistics course. Students who have not taken intermediate microeconomics or statistics may feel the need to do some remedial reading.

 

Texts: The required texts are:

 

Kevin Lang, Poverty and Discrimination, Princeton University Press, 2007.

 

Additional readings: There is a considerable amount of reading for this class. Where possible, I have included a link to on-line materials on the course page.

 

Course Web Page: The material for this class (this syllabus, readings, course schedule, announcements) will be posted on the course web page at http://people.bu.edu/lang/ec325.htm.



Grading:

Class participation

Credit is given for participation, not for showing up

5%

1st midterm exam:

October 16

20%

2nd midterm exam:

November 15

20%

Short paper:

Due: December 5, 9:00 AM

20%

Final exam:  

December 19, 9:00-11:00

35%

 

Although I take attendance, showing up does not give you credit towards class participation. I use the attendance information in case your parents call the university wondering whether something has happened to you. Quality and quantity of comments count.

 

I recently discovered that I am mildly face-blind, which means that I have unusual difficulty remembering faces. In order to make my life easier and, in particular, to make it easier for me to grade class participation, starting with the third week of classes, you should choose a permanent seat and remain their for the rest of the semester.

 

I reserve the right to alter the weighting in order to take account of exceptional circumstances.

 

Many issues reappear throughout the semester so early classes are still important for the second midterm and final exams. The final will be more heavily weighted towards the last part of the course but will nevertheless be cumulative. You are welcome to bring calculators to exams.

 

All exams are required. No makeup midterm exams will be given. If you miss an exam, you will receive a grade of zero. The only exceptions will be for a verified family emergency or for an illness or injury that is confirmed by the University Medical Clinic or other doctor. If you miss a midterm exam for a legitimate reason, your remaining exams will be reweighted appropriately.

 

It is your responsibility to plan your travel ahead around exams dates. In particular, the date of the final exam is determined by the registrar and cannot be changed for any reason. If you miss the final for a legitimate reason, I will schedule a make-up exam at a time when all students taking the make-up are available. This will probably not be before the second week of spring semester.

 

Policy on Cheating: You are responsibility for reading and understanding the CAS Academic Conduct Code, which you can pick up in room CAS B3. Academic misconduct involves not only direct cheating on tests, but some more subtle acts as well. All work handed in for credit must be your own, with the exception that you are encouraged to discuss your papers with each other but must turn in separate work demonstrating independent thought and investigation. I will report cases of suspected academic misconduct to the Dean's Office. In addition to any punishment determined by the College, you will receive a 0 for the test or assignment.

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

 

Please note that the dates on which material will be covered are approximate. Topics may take more or less time than I anticipate, and I may decide to change the order in which we address various topics. Exams will cover material that has been covered in the actual lectures regardless of whether we are ahead of or behind the projected schedule.

 

J indicates that the reading is available at www.jstor.org You must be logged into the Boston University network (or virtual network) to access jstor

 

E indicates that the reading is available through EconLit. To access EconLit go to http://www.bu.edu/dbin/ejournals/esources/alpha-es.php#E and click on EconLit You must be logged into the Boston University network (or virtual network) to access this. Once on EconLit, you can use the author and key words in the title to find the article and the link to the full text.

 

P&D refers to Poverty and Discrimination.

 

You may need to be logged on to the Boston University network to access some of the links.

DATE

TOPIC

READINGS

9/4

Introduction/Why policy analysts disagree

P&D chapter 1

9/6

Review of statistics

P&D appendix to chapter 1

9/11

Who is poor (theory)?

P&D chapter 2, pp. 31-37

9/13

Who is poor by the official measure?

P&D chapter 2, pp. 37-45

9/18

Dynamics of poverty

P&D chapter 2, pp. 45-58

E Mary Jo Bane and David Ellwood, 1986, "Slipping Into and Out of Poverty: The Dynamics of Spells, Journal of Human Resources, 21, 1-24.

J Ann Huff Stevens, “The Dynamics of Poverty Spells: Updating Bane and Ellwood,” American Economic Review, 84 (May 1994): 34-37.

 

Finalize your seating choice!

9/20

Evolution of poverty policy

J Gary Burtless, “The Economist's Lament: Public Assistance in America,”Journal of Economic Perspectives, (Winter 1990)

P&D Chapter 3

9/25

Trends in poverty

P&D chapter 4, parts 1&2

9/27

Accounting for trends

P&D chapter 4, remainder

10/2

Labor market policies I

P&D chapter 5, parts 1-5

10/4

Labor market policies II

P&D chapter 5, remainder

10/11

Nonmarital births/Decline of marriage

Kathryn Edin, “A Few Good Men,” The American Prospect, 11 (November 30, 2002): 1-8. Link

George Akerlof and Janet Yellen, “An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Births in the United States,”Brookings Policy Brief No. 5, August 1996. Link

P&D chapter 6, parts 1-5

10/16

First Midterm Exam (covers material through 10/4)

 

10/18

Teen motherhood /Intergenerational issues

 P&D chapter 6, parts 6-8

10/23

Policies Aimed at Children

P&D chapter 6, remainder

Janet Currie, “Early Childhood Intervention Programs: What Do We Know?”Joint Center for Poverty Research Working Paper 169, May 2000. http://www.jcpr.org/wp/WPprofile.cfm?ID=176

10/25

Concentrated Poverty

Rosenbaum, “Changing the Geography of Opportunity by Expanding Residential Choice: Lessons from the Gautreaux Program,” Housing Policy Debate 6 (1995): 231-69.http://www.fanniemaefoundation.org/programs/hpd/pdf/hpd_0601_rosenbaum.pdf

P&D chapter 7

10/30

Education reform I

Brookings Institution, Vouchers and Charter Schools: The Latest Evidence,http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/comm/transcripts/20000224.htm

P&D chapter 8, parts 1-3

11/1

Education Reform II

P&D chapter 8, remainder

11/6

Welfare reform

Ron Haskins and Rebecca M. Blank, “Five Years After Welfare Reform: An Agenda for Reauthorization,” in their The New World of Welfare, Brookings Institution Press, 2001.http://www.brook.edu/press/books/chapter_1/new_world_of_welfare.pdf

P&D chapter 9

11/8

Defining discrimination, theories

P&D chapter 10

11/13

Black-White Wage Differentials: Trends

P&D chapter 11, parts 1&2

11/15

Second Midterm Exam (covers material 10/11 - 11/8)

11/20

Race Discrimination in the Labor Market I

J James Heckman, “Detecting Discrimination,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12 (Spring 1998): 101-116

P&D chapter 11, remainder

11/27

Race Discrimination in the Labor Market II

 

11/29

Discrimination in Education

Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips, “America's Next Achievement: Closing the Black-White Test Score Gap,” The American Prospect, no. 40, September-October 1998: 44-53.http://www.prospect.org/print/V9/40/jencks-c.html

E William T. Dickens and Thomas J. Kane, “Racial Test Score Differences as Evidence of Reverse Discrimination: Less Than Meets the Eye,” Industrial Relations, 38 (July 1999): 331-63.

P&D chapter 12

12/4

Discrimination in Housing & Other Markets

P&D chapter 13

12/6

Sex Discrimination: Theory

J Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn, “Gender Differences in Pay,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14 (Fall 2000): 75-100.

P&D, Chapter 14, parts 1-3

12/11

Sex Discrimination: Evidence

Wrap-up 

P&D Chapter 14, remainder

P&D Chapter 15, optional

12/19

FINAL EXAM 9:00 - 11:00