MBA 641: Human Resource Management

Fall 2016

 (Due in class on September 21, 2016)

 

INSTRUCTIONS: This typed, take-home essay exam requires students to demonstrate an understanding of U.S. labor markets---their nature, history, institutional structure, outcomes, and differences across the globe. 

 

·         You are expected to draw upon a very high percentage of the assigned readings and prepare their answers using full paragraphs, complete sentences, and the accepted standards or grammar and syntax.

·         You are required to cite all of your sources in any format with which you feel comfortable. The use of data and selective quotes are strongly encouraged. In both cases, you must cite the authors’ names only (and page numbers, if available). Place any charts, tables in an Appendix and number them if you use more than one.

·         You do not need a Bibliography since your sources have been carefully curated (that sounds like fine art or food). If you choose to consult other sources, please provide the full citation and url, if it’s an online source.

·         To make your writing more efficient and effective, construct outlines for each answer. This will also help you stay within the suggested limits (see below)

·         A grading rubric is available in the first folder in a folder in the Contents section of D2L for your information.

 

Questions:

Part 1: Nature and Structure of Labor Markets (est. 6-7 pp.)

 

A.      Using short examples, list and discuss the main ways that labor markets differ from other kinds of markets. (Be sure to discuss how markets interact with institutions and sociological factors in the labor market and how economic theory falls short of its reputation.)

 

B.      Borrowing from Kalleberg, Lazonick, and Meyerson’s “How the American South…”, and “Forty-Year Slump,” compare and contrast the two macro employment systems (1945-1975 and 1975-present) in terms of key employment outcomes and indicate which system under which you would prefer to be employed and why.

 

 

Part 2: Labor Market Outcomes: Inequality (est. 6 pp.)

 

A.      Many mainstream economists explain income and wealth inequality as the result of technological changes, foreign competition, union decline, etc., that have rewarded a select group of people for having the “right” set of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Recently, other economists, such as Atkinson, Saez, Piketty, and Reich, for example, contend that others are far more explanatory.

                     i.            What is the extent of income (and wealth) inequality in the US and how has it changed over time?

                   ii.            What do Atkinson et al. argue are the real reasons for growing income inequality over the past 4 decades?

                 iii.            What have been some of the effects of income inequality in the American political economy? (Think of economic and non-economic factors as well)

 

 

Part 3: Labor Market Trends Since the 1970s (est. 6 pp.)

 

A.      Based on the assigned readings that concentrate on the state of the labor market since the 1970s, what are, in your opinion, the five (5) most significant labor market outcomes (e.g., pay, benefits, employment, nature of jobs, etc.) and why have you identified these as the most important?

 

B.      If you had the authority to create a labor market policy for the US, what would it look like? (Be sure to justify the overall and component parts of the policy that would be designed to achieve better economic and labor market functioning.)

 

 

 

Please let me know if you have any questions about this exam at any time that you encounter them but before it’s due. I trust you will derive greater benefits from writing this exam than I will from reading it. J