eco question

Economics 5140 �American Economic History

Prof. T.D. Logan, Spring Semester 2018

Midterm Exam 1, Part 2 February 8, 2018

Answer all parts of all questions in your bluebook. Be precise and concise in your answers, and make sure that you read the entire exam before you begin. Relax, take a deep

breath, and do your best. Good Luck!!

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1 Labor and Education

1. (10) Rosenbloom ("One Market or Many") argues that real wages will be equalized in an integrated labor market. What regression does Rosenbloom estimate to describe di¤erences in real wages between cities [no equations needed, but you do need to de�ne all of the variables used]? Rosenbloom says that demand plays a primary role in explaining the real wage gaps he estimates, which persisted over time. What evidence does he use to support that contention, and how is it consistent with a demand (as opposed to supply) explanation?

2. (10) Goldin ("America�s Graduation from High School") notes that the high school movement was unevenly distributed the United States. What years in American history describe the "high school movement"? What areas of the country led the high school movement? What areas lagged behind? What speci�c reasons does Goldin note for their leadership in the high school movement?

3. (10) Salisbury ("Selective Migration, Wages, and Occupational Mobility in Nineteenth Century America") looks at occupational upgrading and migration. In particular, she focuses on skill premia. How does Salisbury estimate skill premiums [what is the measure, what level is it estimated at]? What does she hypothesize about migration and the relationship with home and destination skill premiums [if a person migrates from/to a low or high skill premium location, what do we expect about their occupational upgrading and why]?

2 The Field of Economic History

1. (10) Give a de�nition of economic history. How does Fogel ("The Limits of Quantitative Methods in History") answer the question "What kind of quantitative methods should be used?" In your answer, describe the di¤erence between formal and informal approaches to quantitative methods in history. Give an example of each method.

2. (10) In Fogel ("The Limits of Quantitative Methods in History"), he describes implicit mea- surement in economic history. Speci�cally, Fogel notes that "The quotation is fromn George Soule�s Economic Forces in American History. �Regional concentration of industries and spe- cialized crops, though dependent on many factors, could not have developed so fully without railroad transportation. New England could �nd national markets for its textiles and shoes. Pennsylvania, with its coal and easy access to iron, could concentrate on basic iron and steel, shipping the products wherever they might be wanted. Iowa could, with its specially adapted soils and climate, become a corn and hog country." Describe and discuss three of the implicit quantitative statements in this Soule quote, as noted by Fogel.

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