多恩布什《宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)》(英文第八版)答案-第七章

1、Solutions to the Problems in the Textbook:Conceptual Problems:1. The rate of unemployment is affected by the frequency, that is, the number of times that workers become unemployed in a period, and by the duration, that is, the length of the period for which workers are unemployed.1.a. In depressed i

2、ndustries, the duration of unemployment is likely to be long but the frequency is likely to be low. Policies to help unemployed workers from these industries find new jobs may include retraining and education programs to enable them to find work in other industries.1.b. Unskilled workers tend to be

3、more frequently unemployed, but the duration of their unemployment is usually fairly short. On-the-job training or education programs that provide skills to obtain or maintain jobs are often the best strategy for helping these workers. However, such programs are often costly and difficult to impleme

4、nt.1.c. Unemployment in depressed geographical areas tends to be of long duration and low frequency and is often concentrated in specific industries (very similar to the situation in 1.a.). Policies to relocate workers to different geographical areas may not be successful since workers are often rel

5、uctant to move. Thus policy makers generally prefer programs designed to attract new industries to an area over programs to relocate workers. 1.d. Teenage unemployment is often of high frequency and short duration. Since teenagers tend to have few skills and little or no work experience, programs to

6、 facilitate the transition into the adult work force are needed. Programs that offer on-the-job training will provide the highest long-term benefits. These programs tend to be fairly costly, however, which is why some politicians advocate lowering the minimum wage for teenagers instead.2.The natural

7、 unemployment rate is determined by two factors: the duration and frequency of unemployment. While the duration of unemployment depends primarily on the organization and demographic make-up of the labor force, the availability of unemployment benefits, and the desire of the unemployed to look for be

8、tter jobs, the frequency of unemployment depends largely on the rate at which new workers enter the work force and on the variability of the demand for labor across different employers.2.a. It is unclear whether the elimination of unions would serve to reduce the natural rate of unemployment. The in

9、sider-outsider theory of the labor market suggests that firms bargain with unions (the insiders) and are not much concerned with the unemployed (the outsiders). If unions were eliminated, firms would tend to hire unemployed workers at a lower wage rate, thus reducing the natural unemployment rate. O

10、n the other hand, unions tend to preserve stable jobs for their members. Eliminating them may lead not only to a reduction in bargaining power for labor in wage negotiations but also to an increase in the natural rate of unemployment. The elimination of labor unions could also serve to eliminate the

11、 wage differentials between unionized and non-unionized workers and, in the process, redistribute some income.2.b. Increased labor force participation of teenagers would at least initially increase the natural rate of unemployment, since teenagers have a higher frequency of unemployment than older,

12、more experienced workers. However, as more and more teenagers entered the labor force and more good and stable jobs became available to them, the natural rate of unemployment would start to decline again. But with more people in the labor force, the supply of labor would be higher and wage rates wou

13、ld be driven down, contributing to wage stagnation.2.c. If aggregate demand fluctuated more, then firms would offer fewer stable jobs and the frequency of unemployment would increase, increasing the natural rate. This would not only lead to a loss in output and an increase in personal hardship, but

14、it would also put more financial strain on the unemployment insurance program. 2.d. An increase in unemployment benefits would make it less urgent for the unemployed to find new jobs. They would have the option of looking longer for jobs after being laid off and would be less likely to accept undesi

15、rable job offers. As the length of their unemployment increased, workers might begin to look less desirable to potential employers who might believe that they lacked either the motivation or qualifications to work hard for them. Therefore the natural rate of unemployment would increase.2.e. Employer

16、s who perceive the minimum wage rate to be above the value of the marginal product of low skilled workers will not hire such workers. The elimination of the minimum wage rate might induce some firms to hire more low-skilled workers, thus decreasing the natural rate of unemployment. However, the wage

17、 rate that these low skilled workers were offered might be well below the amount that would ensure an adequate standard of living. 2.f.If fluctuation in the composition of aggregate demand increased, workers would have to be shifted from industry to industry more often and this would increase the na

18、tural rate of unemployment. However, since skills are not always transferable, resources would have to be devoted to retraining programs.3. Many unemployed teenagers are new entrants into the labor force and their frequency of unemployment is higher than that of adult workers. Teenagers frequency of

19、 entry into and exit from the labor force indicates that few of them work at jobs with the promise of high job security. They have little or no training and few job skills and thus tend to hold unattractive jobs. This perpetuates the problem since the jobs they can get do not provide the skills need

20、ed to gain better jobs in the future. While the frequency of unemployment is lower for adults than teenagers, the duration is often higher. There are fewer entrants and re-entrants into the work force among adults, who are most often unemployed due to layoffs. Overall, the unemployment rate for adul

21、ts is much lower than the unemployment rate for teenagers.4.a. Employers would benefit from a lower minimum wage rate, since they would be able to expand production by hiring labor at a lower cost. Since the nominal minimum wage rate might no longer be above the value of the marginal product of low

22、skilled or inexperienced workers, the labor of these workers would be more desirable to employers. Therefore teenagers and low skilled job seekers would also benefit. They would get jobs more easily and gain valuable work experience that they otherwise might not have gotten. Since more people would

23、be hired and more output would be produced at a lower price, the whole economy would benefit from a lower inflation rate and a lower unemployment rate.4.b. Those workers who would have been working at jobs paying the existing minimum wage rate might lose from a decrease in the minimum wage. With a l

24、ower minimum wage rate implemented only during the summer months, employers might lay off current workers and replace them with new entrants at a lower cost. Thus the number of displaced workers might increase.4.c. Obviously, those who would gain from such a policy measure would support it-teenagers

25、, low skilled workers, and some firms.5. It is possible to design a restrictive fiscal and monetary policy mix to bring the economy to a long-run equilibrium situation at the natural rate of unemployment and at a zero rate of inflation. However, this cannot be achieved without an increase in the rat

26、e of unemployment in the short run. Therefore a choice has to be made among adjustment paths that differ in their inflation-unemployment mix. In considering adjustment paths, the benefits of permanently lower inflation have to be compared with the costs of increased short-term unemployment. The cost

27、s of unemployment are loss of output and personal hardship. If inflation can be anticipated only imperfectly, then a redistribution of income and wealth will take place. Some output may be lost as resources are devoted to minimizing a potential loss in purchasing power rather than to actual producti

28、on. However, the cost of perfectly anticipated inflation is minimal. Thus it probably makes little difference whether we have a zero inflation rate or an inflation rate of 3%, as long as a specific long-run goal is established. A positive rate of inflation may actually help in wage and price adjustm

29、ents, since it allows real wages to adjust more easily to supply shocks. Most policy makers tend to perceive the cost of inflation as lower than the cost of an increase in unemployment resulting from tough anti-inflation policies. However, the U.S. experience of the early 1980s indicates that tough

30、measures to bring the economy quickly to recovery may be acceptable if inflation reaches the double-digit range. One way to establish a clear inflation goal is for the Fed to follow a monetary growth rule. However, such a rule may not perform well in all situations (for example, in a supply shock).

31、Another option is to maintain discretionary monetary policy along with an independent central bank that has a clear mandate to function as an inflation fighter. 6. The sacrifice ratio is the percentage of output lost for each one- percent reduction in the inflation rate. It is non-zero in the short

32、and medium runs, when output is different from the full-employment level. However, in the long run, unemployment always returns to its natural level and therefore the sacrifice ratio is zero.7. Okuns law states that a reduction in the unemployment rate of 1 percent will increase the level of output

33、by 2 percent. This relationship allows us to measure the cost to society (in terms of lost production) of a given rate of unemployment.8. When inflation is perfectly anticipated, then its costs consist primarily of the costs of making price changes (menu costs) and costs related to the holding of cu

34、rrency, which loses purchasing power. If there is only low to moderate inflation, these costs are very low. However, when inflation rates soar, the costs can be substantial.9. The cost of imperfectly anticipated inflation can be serious. There is a redistribution of wealth among individuals. If actu

35、al inflation is higher than expected, debtors profit while creditors lose as real interest rates are lower than expected. Equity holders are also hurt, since the real value of dividends and capital gains is reduced. If there is no tax indexation, people may move into higher tax brackets and suffer f

36、inancially due to bracket creep. 10. Indexation is designed to make it easier to live with inflation since it eliminates the cost of unanticipated inflation. In practice, however, indexing on a broad basis makes it more complicated to calculate contracts. It also makes it harder for the economy to a

37、djust to shocks if changes in relative prices are needed. This is particularly true for supply shocks. Finally, there is some concern that indexation may weaken political motivation to fight inflation. However, as long as inflation is low to moderate, the benefits of indexation probably outweigh the

38、 costs.Technical Problems:1.a. The aggregate unemployment rate can be calculated by adding the unemployment rates of different groups weighted by their share of the labor force. The data in the problem indicate that 10% of the labor force are teenagers. The adult work force (the other 90%) is divide

39、d into 35% females and 65% males. Thus we getu = (0.1)(0.19) + (0.9)(0.35)(0.06) + (0.65)(0.07) = 0.019 + (0.9)(0.021 + 0.0455) = 0.019 + 0.05985 = 0.07885 = 7.9%.1.b.If the labor force participation rate of teenagers increases to 15%, then the aggregate rate of unemployment changes to:u1 = (0.15)(0

40、.19) + (0.85)(0.35)(0.06) + (0.65)(0.07) = 0.0285 + (0.85)(0.021 + 0.0455) = 0.0285 + 0.056525 = 0.085025 = 8.5%.2.The unemployment figures for each group were taken from the Economic Report of the President, February, 1997. Figures relating to the unemployment rate were taken from Table B-40 and each groups share in the civilian labor force was calculated from Table B-38. 1986 1991 1996 Males 16-19Un.Rt./Share (19.0%)/(.030) (19.8%)/(.026) (18.1%)/(.026) Females 16-19Un.Rt./Share (17.6%)/(.029) (17.5%)/(.024) (15.2%)/(.025) Males 20+Un.Rt./Share (6.1%)/(.525) (6.4%)/(.520) (4