Contemporary Policy Issues articles

Recent articles from Contemporary Policy Issues

Returns paid to early Social Security cohorts.
October 1, 1993... I. INTRODUCTION The combined benefit and contribution structure of the U.S. Social Security program generates substantial income transfers within and across generations. A highly progressive benefit formula transfers income from high-wage to low-wage earners, and the program pays benefits by...

GATT trade rules and the environment. (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)
October 1, 1993... I. INTRODUCTION This paper focuses on the relationship between trade rules contained in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the ability of the signatories to these agreements to protect their own and the global...

Willingness to pay for air quality: the case of outdoor exercise.
October 1, 1993... I. INTRODUCTION The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently reviewed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone. The 1970 Clean Air Act requires setting national primary standards for ambient air quality at levels to protect the public, with an adequate margin of...

Wage mobility and wage inequality among young workers.
October 1, 1993... I. INTRODUCTION Individuals undergo a great deal of job mobility and wage variation during their early years in the labor market. Previous research indicates that about two-thirds of all lifetime job changes and nearly two-thirds of lifetime wage growth occur in the first 10 years of a young...

Effects of price and availability on abortion demand.
October 1, 1993... I. INTRODUCTION Following the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973, the rate of legal abortion in the United States increased from 16.3 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 1973 to 29.3 in 1981, but then declined to 27.3 by 1988. (Data are from the U.S. Statistical Abstract,...