The incentive and efficiency effects of affirmative action: does envy matter?

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 930-951
Author(s):  
Rezina Sultana
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Expected Utility ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
Group I ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Unequal Access ◽  
Efficiency Effects

Abstract This paper introduces envy into the study of affirmative action (AA) policies. Envy is defined as occurring when people have the same income with different abilities or with equal abilities have different incomes because of unequal access to employment opportunities—which occurs both under adverse and compensatory-discrimination. I analyse how envy, when there is discrimination, interacts with incentive for individuals to make productivity-enhancing investment and thereby affects economic efficiency. A policymaker maximizes the expected utility of the population taking into account the trade-off between fairness or equity (no-envy) and efficiency. An exclusive equal opportunity policy (EOP) that forestalls envy would allocate skilled jobs in a manner skewed towards the historically advantaged group. I study the conditions under which AA is fairness-improving in access to ‘good’ jobs and the implications for efficiency in job allocation between ex ante advantaged and disadvantaged groups.

The Ranking Properties of Healthy-Years Equivalents and Quality-Adjusted Life-Years Under Certainty and Uncertainty

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Johannesson
Keyword(s):  
Expected Utility ◽  
The Other ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Health States ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Individual Preferences ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life ◽  
Health Profiles

AbstractThis paper investigates the theoretical properties of healthy-years equivalents (HYEs) and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). A distinction is made between ex ante HYEs (EA-HYEs) and expected HYEs (EXP-HYEs) and between risk-neutral quality-adjusted life-years (RN-QALYs) and risk-adjusted quality adjusted life-years (RA-QALYs). In the case of certainty, HYEs always rank health profiles according to individual preferences, whereas QALYs only rank health profiles according to individual preferences if constant proportional trade-off holds for all health states and if additive independence of quality in different periods holds. In the case of uncertainty, EA-HYEs always rank risky health profiles the same way as expected utility. The assumptions needed for the other measures to rank risky health profiles the same way as expected utility are: risk neutrality with respect to healthy time for EXP-HYEs; risk neutrality with respect to time in all health states and additive independence of quality in different periods for RN-HYEs; and constant proportional risk posture with respect to time in all health states and additive independence of quality in different periods for RA-QALYs.

The New Frontier

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Frontier ◽  
Equal Opportunity Employer

Does the burgeoning Indian Information Technology (IT) sector represent a deviation from the historical arc of caste inequality or has it become yet another site of discrimination? Those who claim that the sector is caste-free believe that IT is an equal opportunity employer, and that the small Dalit footprint is due to the want of merit. But they fail to consider how caste inequality sneaks in by being layered on socially constructed ‘pure merit’, which favours upper castes and other privileged segments, but handicaps Dalits and other disadvantaged groups. In this book, Fernandez describes how the practice of pure and holistic merit are deeply embedded in the social, cultural, and economic privileges of the dominant castes and classes, and how caste filtering has led to the reproduction of caste hierarchies and consequently the small Dalit footprint in Indian IT.

scholarly journals Partner Uncertainty and the Dynamic Boundary of the Firm

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Hellmann ◽  
Veikko Thiele
Keyword(s):  
Asset Specificity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Specific Investments ◽  
Dynamic Boundary ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Ex Ante

We develop a new theory of the dynamic boundary of the firm where asset owners may want to change partners ex post. We identify a fundamental trade-off between (i) a “displacement externality” under non-integration, where a partner leaves a relationship even though his benefit is worth less than the loss to the displaced partner, and (ii) a “retention externality” under integration, where a partner inefficiently retains the other. With more asset specificity, displacement externalities matter more and retention externalities less, so that integration becomes more attractive. Wealth can resolve ex post inefficient partner arrangements, but may weaken ex ante incentives for specific investments. (JEL D21, D23, D25, D62, D86, G31)

scholarly journals An AHP – Based Assessment of Scenarios for Promoting Employment of People with Disabilities in Latvia

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (338) ◽  
pp. 67-74
Author(s):  
Zaiga Oborenko ◽  
Baiba Rivza ◽  
Peteris Rivza
Keyword(s):  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Fair Use ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Active Involvement

AbstractThe employment of people with disabilities has multidimensional aspects - economic, social, legal, human rights, discrimination, psychological, ethical and responsibility aspects - with different actors involved representing various kinds of interests. The European Union Disability Action Plan and Strategy specifies the objective of promoting the employment of people with disabilities in the open labour market. The employment of such individuals is not only an economic issue, but also an issue of social inclusion, poverty reduction, equal opportunity and socially responsible employment. Effective and fair use of human resources for national economic development requires a variety of support mechanisms, including regulatory frameworks, the active involvement of local municipalities, and measures taken by state institutions. Because of the different issues and the various actors with different interests involved, an integrated way has to be considered to analyse the employment factors and employment opportunities for people with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to explore and substantiate the possible scenarios associated with promotion employment opportunities for people with disabilities in Latvia. The research methodology employed for this study is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process, and expert interviews are used to analyse the interests of all involved parties, in order to determine the best possible scenarios as to how to stimulate employment for people with disabilities. As a result, three scenarios to promote the employment of people with disabilities were developed. Although the results showed slight differences between the three scenarios, experts believe that the optimal scenario for promoting the employment of people with disabilities is the one in which the EU participates.

A Changing Workforce

2020 ◽  
pp. 210-236
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Delton
Keyword(s):  
African Americans ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
National Association ◽  
Historically White ◽  
Right To Work ◽  
Workplace Rights ◽  
National Association Of Manufacturers

This chapter examines the overlap between African Americans' demands for jobs and conservatives' push for “right to work” laws. While compulsory union dues were very different from unions' exclusion of blacks, both movements targeted historically white unions and shared a language of workplace “rights.” Conservative “right to work” activists adopted the tactics of the civil rights movement and aligned themselves with blacks against exclusionary unions. Although this strategy failed to attract African Americans, it called attention to unions' historic and ongoing racism in a way that eventually divided the labor–liberal coalition. This dynamic is key to understanding the National Association of Manufacturers' complicated support for civil rights, equal opportunity, and affirmative action.

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