"This is an important and timely volume. Robert Cherry and William M. Rodgers III assembled an outstanding group of social scientist to examine the impact of the economic boom on African Americans. The careful and detailed analyses of the employment and earnings of African Americans in a tight labor market will be widely cited and discussed. Indeed, Prosperity for All? will undoubtedly become a standard reference for those who seek authoritative works on the economic prospects of black Americans."
-WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, Harvard University

"To what extent do the tight labor markets of the late 1990s improve the employment and earnings of African Americans and other disadvantaged groups? How much of the deterioration in their employment prospects that occurred during the previous two decades is being reversed, and will these gains persist over time? Do discriminatory attitudes and behaviors among employers also persist, and to what extent do they diminish in tight markets? These are among the questions addressed in the set of papers edited by Robert Cherry and William M. Rodgers III. The editors should be commended for bringing together a distinguished group of researchers, and for generating a volume that addresses such important and timely questions in a convincing fashion."
-HARRY J. HOLZER, Michigan State University

"As Prosperity For All? goes to press, the rules of the new economy are being rewritten. This book offers powerful new evidence that at least one important rule from the old economy still applies: Sustained economic growth conveys substantial benefits for society's most vulnerable workers."
-ALAN KRUEGER, Princeton University

With the nation enjoying a remarkable long and robust economic expansion, AfricanAmerican employment has risen to an all-time high. Does this good news refute the notion of a permanently disadvantaged black underclass, or has one type of disadvantage been replaced by another? Some economists fear that many newly employed minority workers will remain stuck in low-wage jobs, barred from better-paying, high skill jobs by their lack of educational opportunities and entrenched racial discrimination. Prosperity for All? draws upon the research and insights of respected economists to address these important issues.

Prosperity for All? reveals that while African Americans benefit in many ways from a strong job market, serious problems remain. Research presented in this book shows that the ratio of black to white unemployment has actually increased over recent expansions. Even though African American men are currently less likely to leave the workforce, the number of those who do not find work at all has grown substantially, indicating that joblessness is now concentrated among the most alienated members of the population. Other chapters offer striking evidence that racial inequality is still pervasive. Among men, black high school dropouts have more difficulty finding work than their Latino or white counterparts. Likewise, the glass ceiling that limits minority access to higher paying promotions persists even in a strong economy. Prosperity for All? ascribes black disadvantage in the labor force to employer discrimination, particularly when there is strong competition for jobs. As one study illustrates, economic upswings do not appear to change racial preferences among employers, who remain less willing to hire African Americans for more skilled low-wage jobs.

Prosperity for All? offers a timely investigation into the impact of strong labor markets on low-skill African-American workers, with important insights into the issues engendered by the weakening of federal assistance, job training, and affirmative action programs.

ROBERT CHERRY is professor of economics at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

WILLIAM M. RODGERS III is chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor. He is on leave from the College of William and Mary where he is the Frances L. and Edwin L. Cummings Associate Professor of Economics.

CONTRIBUTORS: Heather Boushey, Cecilia Conrad, Mary Corcoran, Sandra Danziger, Sheldon Danziger, William Darity Jr., Gregory E. DeFreitas,  Richard B. Freeman,  Colleen Heflin,  Joyce P. Jacobsen,  Chinhui Juhn,  Ariel Kalil,  Sanders Korenman, Laurence M. Levin,  Judith Levine, Philip Moss, Samuell L. Meyers Jr., Cordelia W. Reimers,  Daniel Rosen,  Kristin Seefeldt,  Kristine Siefert,  William E. Spriggs,  Chris Tilly,  Richard Tolman,  Rhonda M. Williams.  

"For those who think that low-wage workers are just 'unskilled' workers who somehow deserve their fates, Low-Wage Work in France is a must read, in that it shows how their fates vary across sectors within a given country (France) and across countries, within Europe or across the Atlantic."
-DANIEL COHEN, professor, École Normale Supérieure and Paris School of Economics, and director, CEPREMAP

"France has replaced Sweden as the quintessential example of the over-regulated, bloated welfare state that strangles the market economy, producing inefficient workplaces, and undermines incentives to work. As in the case of Sweden, the reality is much more complicated. With a comprehensive overview chapter and five case studies of narrowly framed jobs in different sectors, Eve Caroli and the contributors to this volume show that a high minimum wage has successfully limited the incidence of low wages, but that there has been a growing intensification of work, a development that challenges this orthodox view. Anyone who cares about understanding the real nature of low wage work in France must read this excellent book."
-DAVID R. HOWELL, professor of economics, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy

"Low-Wage Work in France will surely take its place among the Russell Sage Foundation's landmark studies of low paid work in the United States and Europe. A team of distinguished labor economists and sociologists highlights the harsh nature of low-wage work in France, the intensity of its work rhythms and its insecurity. The causes, they argue, often lie in a mix of intense competition in the product markets of these sectors, combined with monopsony power in their labor markets. The institutional structure of French labor markets in conjunction with the employment systems operated by private and public sector organizations shape the incidence of low-wage work, and help explain the specificity of the French case compared with other countries. This work will prove invaluable to all who wish to understand the causes of low-wage employment, and to develop policies to alleviate its consequences for the workers concerned."
-DAVID MARSDEN, professor of industrial relations, London School of Economics

In France, low wages have historically inspired tremendous political controversy. The social and political issues at stake center on integrating the working class into society and maintaining the stability of the republican regime. A variety of federal policies—including high minimum wages and strong employee protection—serve to ensure that the low-wage workforce stays relatively small. Low-Wage Work in France examines both the benefits and drawbacks of this politically inspired system of worker protection. France’s high minimum wage, which is indexed not only to inflation but also to the average increase in employee wages, plays a critical role in limiting the development of low-paid work. Social welfare benefits and a mandatory thirty-five hour work week also make life easier for low-wage workers. Strong employee protection is a central characteristic of the French model, but high levels of protection for employees may also be one of the causes of France’s chronically high rate of unemployment. The threat of long-term unemployment may, in turn, contribute to a persistent sense of insecurity among French workers. Low-Wage Work in France provides a lucid analysis of how a highly regulated labor market shapes the experiences of workers—for better and for worse.

ÈVE CAROLI is professor of economics at University Paris X.

JÉRÔME GAUTIÉ is professor of economics at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.

CONTRIBUTORS: Anne Marie Arborio, Philippe Askenazy, Mathieu Beraud, Jean-Baptiste Berry, Jacques Bouteiller, Lise Causse, Thierry Colin, Emilie Feriel, Benoit Grasser, Christine Guegnard, Annie Lamenthe, Philippe Mehaut, Sylvie-Anne Meriot, Philippe Mosse, Sophie Prunier-Poulmaire, Robert Solow.

A Volume in the RSF Case Studies of Job Quality in Advanced Economies

"In the last few years, there has emerged an animated national conversation about problems faced by-and posed by-people who have been to prison. Regardless of one's politics, we can all agree that we share an interest in discovering and enacting policies that will help the formerly incarcerated `make it.' But good policies require good data, and to date there has been a dearth of information to help us think realistically and critically about the circumstances facing people who leave prison. This important book fills a gap in our knowledge about the labor market prospects people returning from prison face, and it provides an invaluable foundation for the much-needed policy work in that area. The contributors are some of the most skilled social scientists working in the area, and the methods and data they use to shed light on this policy problem are uniquely suited to help advance our knowledge. Anyone who is interested in reentry will find Barriers to Reentry? a treasure trove of findings to spur their creative thinking."
-Todd R. Clear, Distinguished Professor of Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York

"Hundreds of thousands of ex-offenders are released from prison every year. Most fare poorly. Employers hire them as a last resort, their employment and wage experience is poor, rehabilitation programs do too little, too late. Three quarters recividate. The compelling statistic analysis in Barriers to Reentry? shows that the United States should seek alternatives to the mass incarceration of nonviolent offenders."
-Richard B. Freeman, Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics, Harvard University

"The chapters in this volume cut below the surface of the obvious correlation between incarceration and poor labor market outcomes to identify potential policy options and the groups in the population who will be most likely to benefit. As a whole, the book offers a thorough analysis of institutions driving labor markets for those with prison experience and criminal records. The evidence assembled is not generally optimistic about the prospects for improving labor market outcomes for those recently released from prison. For anyone working to improve the economic status of former inmates, Barriers to Reentry? is an invaluable analysis of the realities they must confront."
-Anne Piehl, associate professor of economics, Rutgers University

With the introduction of more aggressive policing, prosecution, and sentencing since the late 1970s, the number of Americans in prison has increased dramatically. While many have credited these “get tough” policies with lowering violent crime rates, we are only just beginning to understand the broader costs of mass incarceration. In Barriers to Reentry? experts on labor markets and the criminal justice system investigate how imprisonment affects ex-offenders’ employment prospects, and how the challenge of finding work after prison affects the likelihood that they will break the law again and return to prison.

The authors examine the intersection of imprisonment and employment from many vantage points, including employer surveys, interviews with former prisoners, and state data on prison employment programs and post-incarceration employment rates. Ex-prisoners face many obstacles to re-entering the job market—from employers’ fears of negligent hiring lawsuits to the lost opportunities for acquiring work experience while incarcerated. In a study of former prisoners, Becky Pettit and Christopher Lyons find that employment among this group was actually higher immediately after their release than before they were incarcerated, but that over time their employment rate dropped to their pre-imprisonment levels. Exploring the demand side of the equation, Harry Holzer, Steven Raphael, and Michael Stoll report on their survey of employers in Los Angeles about the hiring of former criminals, in which they find strong evidence of pervasive hiring discrimination against ex-prisoners. Devah Pager finds similar evidence of employer discrimination in an experiment in which Milwaukee employers were presented with applications for otherwise comparable jobseekers, some of whom had criminal records and some of whom did not. Such findings are particularly troubling in light of research by Steven Raphael and David Weiman which shows that ex-criminals are more likely to violate parole if they are unemployed. In a concluding chapter, Bruce Western warns that prison is becoming the norm for too many inner-city minority males; by preventing access to the labor market, mass incarceration is exacerbating inequality. Western argues that, ultimately, the most successful policies are those that keep young men out of prison in the first place.

Promoting social justice and reducing recidivism both demand greater efforts to reintegrate former prisoners into the workforce. Barriers to Reentry? cogently underscores one of the major social costs of incarceration, and builds a compelling case for rethinking the way our country rehabilitates criminals.

SHAWN BUSHWAY is professor of criminal justice at the University at Albany.

MICHAEL A. STOLL is professor of public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles.

DAVID F. WEIMAN is professor of economics at Barnard College, Columbia University.

CONTRIBUTORS: Shauna Briggs, Shawn Bushway, Harry J. Holzer, Vera Kachnowski, Jeffrey R. Kling, Christopher J. Lyons, Devah Pager, Becky Pettit, Steven Raphael, William J. Sabol, Michael A. Stoll, Faye Taxman, Meridith Thanner, John H. Tyler, Mischelle Van Brakle, Christy A. Visher, David F. Weiman, and Bruce Western

"Low-Wage Work in Germany is a valuable addition to knowledge on recent changes in German labor markets. It not only documents the extent and growth of low-wage work, but also offers well researched explanations for these developments in terms of changes in industrial systems and corporate governance, the fragmentation of work, and the weakening of collective agreements. This analysis is of interest in all industrialized countries. It also offers an important scientific contribution to the current debate in Germany on minimum wage policy."
-GERRY RODGERS, International Institute for Labour Studies, Geneva

"The German social model was praised for many decades because of its low level of social exclusion. Now low-wage work nearly reaches the high level of the United States. The brilliant analysis of Gerhard Bosch, Claudia Weinkopf, and their coauthors helps us understand the dramatic changes of the German social model after the unification. What happens in the strongest European economy is decisive for the European Social model. Therefore, Low-Wage Work in Germany is a must-read for policymakers, analysts, and researchers interested in Europe and the future of the welfare state."
-REINER HOFFMANN, European Trade Union Confederation

"This book challenges our understanding of the German social market economy by expertly documenting the incidence and implications of low-wage work in Germany. Combining labor market analysis with industry case studies, the authors provide a detailed and comprehensive treatment of low-wage work across key occupations. The surprising finding that the share of low-wage work in Germany has reached a level nearly as high as the United States and the United Kingdom makes Low-Wage Work in Germany essential reading for those interested in the German economy."
-PETER BERG, Michigan State University

In recent years, the German government has intentionally expanded the low-wage work sector in an effort to reduce exceptionally high levels of unemployment. As a result, the share of the German workforce employed in low-paying jobs now rivals that of the United States. Low Wage Work in Germany examines both the federal policies and changing economic conditions that have driven this increase in low-wage work. The new “mini-job” reflects the federal government’s attempt to make certain low-paying jobs attractive to both employers and employees. Employers pay a low flat rate for benefits, and employees, who work a limited number of hours per week, are exempt from social security and tax contributions. Other factors, including slow economic growth, a declining collective bargaining system, and the influx of foreign workers, also contribute to the growing incidence of low-wage work. Yet while both Germany and the United States have large shares of low-wage workers, German workers receive health insurance, four weeks of paid vacation, and generous old age support—benefits most low-wage workers in the United States can only dream of. The German experience offers an important opportunity to explore difficult trade-offs between unemployment and low-wage work.

GERHARD BOSCH is professor of sociology at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

CLAUDIA WEINKOPF is deputy director of the Institute for Work, Skills, and Training at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

CONTRIBUTORS: Lars Czommer, Karen Jaehrling, Thorsten Kalina, Robert Solow, Achim Vanselow, Dorothea Voss-Dahm.

A Volume in the RSF Case Studies of Job Quality in Advanced Economies

"Market failures are at the heart of why poor countries cannot get rich, and why poor people in wealthy countries do not become richer. The most crucial sort of market failures are those that plague credit and financial markets. Credit Markets for the Poor provides a rich introduction and overview of both the theory and evidence behind failing credit markets. It shows why credit markets may fail, why they actually do so, how this influences economic outcomes and people's life chances, and what can be done about it. The book will be indispensable reading for economists trying to understand the incidence and persistence of poverty within and between nations."
-JAMES A. ROBINSON, Harvard University

Access to credit is an important means of providing people with the opportunity to make a better life for themselves. Loans are essential for most people who want to purchase a home, start a business, pay for college, or weather a spell of unemployment. Yet many people in poor and minority communities—regardless of their creditworthiness—find credit hard to come by, making the climb out of poverty extremely difficult. How dire are the lending markets in these communities and what can be done to improve access to credit for disadvantaged groups? In Credit Markets for the Poor, editors Patrick Bolton and Howard Rosenthal and an expert team of economists, political scientists, and legal and business scholars tackle these questions with shrewd analysis and a wealth of empirical data.

Credit Markets for the Poor opens by examining what credit options are available to poor households. Economist John Caskey profiles how weak credit options force many working families into a disastrous cycle of short-term, high interest loans in order to sustain themselves between paychecks. Löic Sadoulet explores the reasons that community lending organizations, which have been so successful in developing countries, have failed in more advanced economies. He argues the obstacles that have inhibited community lending groups in industrialized countries—such as a lack of institutional credibility and the high cost of establishing lending networks—can be overcome if banks facilitate the community lending process and establish a system of repayment insurance. Credit Markets for the Poor also examines how legal institutions affect the ability of the poor to borrow. Daniela Fabbri and Mario Padula argue that well-meaning provisions making it more difficult for lenders to collect on defaulted loans are actually doing a disservice to the poor in credit markets. They find that in areas with lax legal enforcement of debt agreements, credit markets for the poor are underdeveloped because lenders are unwilling to take risks on issuing credit or will do so only at exorbitant interest rates. Timothy Bates looks at programs that facilitate small-business development and finds that they have done little to reduce poverty. He argues that subsidized business creation programs may lure inexperienced households into entrepreneurship in areas where little profitable investment is possible, hence setting them up for failure.

With clarity and insightful analysis, Credit Markets for the Poor demonstrates how weak credit markets are impeding the social and economic mobility of the needy. By detailing the many disadvantages that impoverished people face when seeking to borrow, this important new volume highlights a significant national problem and offers solutions for the future.

PATRICK BOLTON is John H. Scully ’66 Professor of Finance and professor of economics in the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University.

HOWARD ROSENTHAL is Roger Williams Straus Professor of Social Sciences and professor of politics at Princeton University and visiting professor in the Department of Economics at Brown University.

CONTRIBUTORS: Raisa Bahchieva, Timothy Bates, Patrick Bolton, John P. Caskey, Daniela Fabbri, Robert Kaestner, Malgosia Madajewicz, Mario Padula, Howard Rosenthal, Loic Sadoulet, Lisa J. Servon, Robert M. Townsend, Susan M. Wachter, Antwuan Wallace, and Elizabeth Warren.

Winner of the 2001 Richard A. Lester prize for Outstanding Book in Labor Economics and Industrial Relations from Princeton University

Winner of the Cornell Center for the Study of Inequality Distinguished Book Award

"This book documents the downfall of upward mobility in the United States. It is a magnificent blend of raw imagination, new empirical analysis, and existing knowledge, with a topic of fundamental importance: the long-term welfare of American workers. The result is a compelling case that the American dream has become nothing more than a cruel mirage for most workers. This book is essential for labor economists and sociologists, public policymakers, human resources professionals, and journalists."
-DAVID E. BLOOM, Harvard University

"Divergent Paths is the book about the American labor market we have all been waiting for. This meticulous empirical inquiry comes closer than anything else I know to definitively answering an entire battery of questions regarding wage inequality and upward mobility in today's post- industrial economy. This magnificently researched and written work- based on a superb statistical analysis of the wage and employment trajectories of two cohorts of young workers-should be mandatory reading for every social scientist who has ever wanted to know who the winners and losers are in the U.S. labor market."
-BARRY BLUESTONE, Northeastern University

"This highly readable and detailed analysis of economic mobility examines the experiences of young men who entered the labor market in very different economic contexts. The authors demonstrate that prospects for long-term wage growth have deteriorated dramatically over the last thirty years for most men. Judicious use of graphs makes the rigorous empirical analysis accessible to non-specialists. This book is 'must reading' for anyone who wants to understand the economic processes generating inequality today."
-EILEEN APPELBAUM, Economic Policy Institute

The promise of upward mobility—the notion that everyone has the chance to get ahead—is one of this country's most cherished ideals, a hallmark of the American Dream. But in today's volatile labor market, the tradition of upward mobility for all may be a thing of the past. In a competitive world of deregulated markets and demanding shareholders, many firms that once offered the opportunity for advancement to workers have remade themselves as leaner enterprises with more flexible work forces. Divergent Paths examines the prospects for upward mobility of workers in this changed economic landscape. Based on an innovative comparison of the fortunes of two generations of young, white men over the course of their careers, Divergent Paths documents the divide between the upwardly mobile and the growing numbers of workers caught in the low-wage trap.

The first generation entered the labor market in the late 1960s, a time of prosperity and stability in the U.S. labor market, while the second generation started work in the early 1980s, just as the new labor market was being born amid recession, deregulation, and the weakening of organized labor. Tracking both sets of workers over time, the authors show that the new labor market is more volatile and less forgiving than the labor market of the 1960s and 1970s. Jobs are less stable, and the penalties for failing to find a steady employer are more severe for most workers. At the top of the job pyramid, the new nomads—highly credentialed, well-connected workers—regard each short-term project as a springboard to a better-paying position, while at the bottom, a growing number of retail workers, data entry clerks, and telemarketers, are consigned to a succession of low-paying, dead-end jobs.

While many commentators dismiss public anxieties about job insecurity as overblown, Divergent Paths carefully documents hidden trends in today's job market which confirm many of the public's fears. Despite the celebrated job market of recent years, the authors show that the old labor market of the 1960s and 1970s propelled more workers up the earnings ladder than does today's labor market. Divergent Paths concludes with a discussion of policy strategies, such as regional partnerships linking corporate, union, government, and community resources, which may help repair the career paths that once made upward mobility a realistic ambition for all American workers.

ANNETTE BERNHARDT is Senior Research Associate at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

MARTINA MORRIS is the Blumstein-Jordan Professor of Sociology and Statistics at the University of Washington, Seattle.

MARK S. HANDCOCK is Professor of Statistics and Sociology in the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle.

MARC A. SCOTT is Assistant Professor of Educational Statistics at the School of Education, New York University.

"The Silicon Valley is seen as the exemplar of the new economy and Milwaukee represents the old. Yet are these labor markets truly different and if so in what ways? Staircases or Treadmills? takes on the challenge of answering this question and does so with a focus on those outside the relatively small elite who have prospered in the past decades. The original fieldwork and survey research reported in this important book adds to our knowledge of the role of institutions and personal networks in shaping outcomes. This is empirical research at its best."
-PAUL OSTERMAN, MIT Sloan School

"Staircases or Treadmills? is a carefully-researched, well-argued, important book. As more and more people turn to a variety of private and public organizations to help them find new or better jobs, the authors' deep understanding of intermediary types, market niches, and outcomes is a significant contribution. Some findings are surprising; all will be useful to researchers, activists, and policymakers concerned about how best to help low-income workers advance."
-RICHARD KAZIS, Jobs for the Future

"Staircases or Treadmills? presents a rich and detailed portrait of the workforce-intermediary landscape in two specific regional labor markets. It offers a useful framework for analyzing the services of workforce intermediaries that covers a wide range of organizational types. The book illuminates the growing influence of a range of organizations that play a role in mediating the hiring process in these two labor markets, and how these organizations have in turn influenced the labor-market prospects and outcomes of low- wage workers. This picture of the tremendous fragmentation, variability of service provision, and uneven quality among workforce-intermediary service providers illustrates the challenge that workers and employers face. Staircases or Treadmills? is essential reading for anyone interested in improving labor-market functioning and facilitating improved outcomes for low-income workers."
-MAUREEN CONWAY, The Aspen Institute

Globalization, technological change, and deregulation have made the American marketplace increasingly competitive in recent decades, but for many workers this “new economy” has entailed heightened job insecurity, lower wages, and scarcer benefits. As the job market has grown more volatile, a variety of labor market intermediaries—organizations that help job seekers find employment—have sprung up, from private temporary agencies to government “One-Stop Career Centers.” In Staircases or Treadmills? Chris Benner, Laura Leete, and Manuel Pastor investigate what approaches are most effective in helping workers to secure jobs with decent wages and benefits, and they provide specific policy recommendations for how job-matching organizations can better serve disadvantaged workers.

Staircases or Treadmills? is the first comprehensive study documenting the prevalence of all types of labor market intermediaries and investigating how these intermediaries affect workers’ employment opportunities. Benner, Leete, and Pastor draw on years of research in two distinct regional labor markets—“old economy” Milwaukee and “new economy” Silicon Valley—including a first-of-its-kind random survey of the prevalence and impacts of intermediaries, and a wide range of interviews with intermediary agencies’ staff and clients. One of the main obstacles that disadvantaged workers face is that social networks of families and friends are less effective in connecting job-seekers to stable, quality employment. Intermediaries often serve as a substitute method for finding a job.  Which substitute is chosen, however, matters: The authors find that the most effective organizations—including many unions, community colleges, and local non-profits—actively foster contacts between workers and employers, tend to make long-term investments in training for career development, and seek to transform as well as satisfy market demands. But without effective social networks to help workers locate the best intermediaries, most rely on private temporary agencies and other organizations that offer fewer services and, statistical analysis shows, often channel their participants into jobs with low wages and few benefits. Staircases or Treadmills? suggests that, to become more effective, intermediary organizations of all types need to focus more on training workers, teaching networking skills, and fostering contact between workers and employers in the same industries.

A generation ago, rising living standards were broadly distributed and coupled with relatively secure employment. Today, many Americans fear that heightened job insecurity is overshadowing the benefits of dynamic economic growth. Staircases or Treadmills? is a stimulating guide to how private and public job-matching institutions can empower disadvantaged workers to share in economic progress.

CHRIS BENNER is assistant professor of urban and economic geography at Pennsylvania State University.

LAURA LEETE is the Fred H. Paulus Director of Public Policy Research and associate professor of economics and public policy at Willamette University.

MANUEL PASTOR is a professor of geography and American Studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

Over the last forty years, rising national income has helped reduce poverty rates, but this has been accompanied by an increase in economic inequality. While these trends are largely attributed to technological change and demographic shifts, such as changing birth rates, labor force patterns, and immigration, public policies have also exerted a profound affect on the welfare of Americans. In Public Policy and the Income Distribution, editors Alan Auerbach, David Card, and John Quigley assemble a distinguished roster of policy analysts to confront the key questions about the role of government policy in altering the level and distribution of economic well being.

Public Policy and the Income Distribution tackles many of the most difficult and intriguing questions about how government intervention—or lack thereof—has affected the incomes of everyday Americans. Rebecca Blank analyzes welfare reform, and presents systematic research on income, poverty rates, and welfare and labor force participation of single mothers. She finds that single mothers worked more and were less dependent on public assistance following welfare reform, and that low-skilled single mothers had no greater difficulty finding work than others. Timothy Smeeding compares poverty reduction programs in the United States with policies in other developed countries. Poverty and inequality are higher in the United States than in other advanced economies, but Smeeding argues that this is largely a result of policy choices. Poverty rates based on market incomes alone are actually lower in the United States than elsewhere, but government interventions in the United States were less than half as effective at reducing poverty as were programs in the other countries. The most dramatic poverty reduction story of twentieth century America was seen among the elderly, who went from being the age group most likely to live in poverty in the 1960s to the group least likely to be poor at the end of the century. Gary Englehardt and Jonathan Gruber examine the role of policy in alleviating old-age poverty by estimating the impact of Social Security benefits on the income of the elderly poor. They find that the growth in Social Security almost completely explains the large decline in elderly poverty in the United States.

The twentieth century was remarkable in the extent to which advances in public policy helped improve the economic well being of Americans. Synthesizing existing knowledge on the effectiveness of public policy and contributing valuable new research,Public Policy and the Income Distribution examines public policy's successes, and points out the areas in which progress remains to be made.

ALAN J. AUERBACH is Robert D. Burch Professor of Economics and Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

DAVID CARD is Class of 1950 Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

JOHN M. QUIGLEY is I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor and professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

CONTRIBUTORS: Rebecca M. Blank,  Dora L. Costa,  Janet Currie,  Gary V. Engelhardt,  Jonathan Gruber,  Matthew E. Kahn, Steven Raphael,  Emmanuel Saez,  Jonathan Skinner,  Timothy M. Smeeding,  Weiping Zhou.