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  5. A Welfare Economic Analysis of Labor Market Policies in the Harris-Todaro Model

A Welfare Economic Analysis of Labor Market Policies in the Harris-Todaro Model

File(s)
Fields4_A_welfare_Economic_Analysis_2.pdf (2.7 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/74970
Collections
Faculty Publications - Labor Economics
ILR Articles and Chapters
Author
Fields, Gary S.
Abstract

This paper presents a welfare economic analysis of the benefits of various labor market policies in the Harris-Todaro labor market model. The policies considered are a policy of modern sector job creation, which I call modern sector enlargement (MSENL); a policy of rural development, which I call traditional sector enrichment (TSENR); and a policy of wage limitation in the urban economy, which I call modern sector wage restraint (MSWR). First, I analyze the inequality effects of these policies. I then perform two welfare economic analyses, the first based on summary measures of labor market conditions (total labor earnings, unemployment, inequality of labor incomes, and poverty rates) and the second based on dominance analysis in the labor market, in both cases assuming that the costs are borne elsewhere. The results of the welfare analyses are compared, and it is shown that TSENR unambiguously increases welfare in the labor market using both approaches, the other policies yield ambiguous results, and no policy is unambiguously welfare-decreasing.

Date Issued
2005-02-01
Keywords
welfare
•
employment
•
job creation
•
labor market
•
economic growth
•
Harris-Todaro model
Related DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2003.10.003
Rights
Required Publisher Statement: Reprinted with permission of Elsevier. Final version published as Fields, G. S. (2005). A welfare economic analysis of labor market policies in the Harris-Todaro model. Journal of Development Economics, 76, 127-146.
Type
article

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