Papers by Robert Goldfarb
Studies in Economics and Finance, Feb 1, 1985
Many texts display circular indifference curves. The rationale for such curves typically requires... more Many texts display circular indifference curves. The rationale for such curves typically requires that goods become bads — that is, their marginal utilities become negative — over some range (e.g., Baumol [1], p. 199). In this note we develop what seems to be a far more general and intuitively appealing rationale for “approximately circular” indifference curves. This rationale suggests that the phenomenon may be far more widespread than previous analysis implies.
Journal of Development Economics, Jun 1, 1984
Philippine physicians was over 75 percent of the Philippine stock in active practice3 It can be d... more Philippine physicians was over 75 percent of the Philippine stock in active practice3 It can be drp,ued that some Filipino physicians *Nere only in the U.S. temporarily, but several studies of foreign medical graduates1 (Fans) suggest that the large majority of such individuals intend to stay permanently." There is no mystery about the individual doctor's motivation for migration. Available estimates of relative doctor incomes in ahe U.S. versus the Philippines indicate that the private return to migration for a nzwlytrained doctor is extremely high? But this high private r&urn in no sensT guarantees a positive social return to the Philippines fr3m doctor migration. Indeed, a stegative social return might at first blush be cxmted. Given that developing nations generally face capital scarcity, the use 0 trahn doctors who the.n leave would seem a low-yield use of issue is the following: why did the Philippine government allow :,hc use of scare capital for expansion of medical education when so m&any doctors then chose 10 leave? While pohtical and sociological explanations abound, are then? also explanations providing an economic rationale? In particular, remi.ttances from Filipinc doctors practicing overseas might be sizeable enough to compensate for losses associated with emigration. That is, it may 'pay' to train doctors for export. Tlhis paper presents an analytical framework which permits us to evaluate this proposition. "The 13,380 figure is from World Health Organization (1978, p. 38). The 10,410 figure is from American Medical Association statistics as reported in Mejia et al. (1980, p. 5). The assertion that very few Philippine-trained doctors are U.S. born is supported by three pieces of evidence. first, ?dejia et al. report that of all Philippine FM& who entered the U.S. between 1966 and 1968, 80 percent were Philippine citizens, 1 percent were naturalized citizens of the U.S., less thqn 0.5 pet-cent were citizens by birth of the U.S., 3 perent were citizens of other CoutWz-s, and fd pmxnt were unidentified by citizenship (table 1.7, p. 14). Second, AMA data reported by ejia et al. show that of 57,217 FMCs in the U.S. in 1970, 5,972 (around JO perent) were U.S. born. Out of the 5,972 U.S. born FMGs, 5,662 received their medical training in 13 countries: 12 countries in Europe pius Mexicc. The other 318 U.S. born FMGs representeli Iess i/&an I pmeenr qf rhe FA4Gs frum the remafrtirg FMG-supplyirrg mmtries (table 1.8, p. 16). Third, a study by S:evens et al. (1978) drew 2~ sa*:lple of FN& serving as hospital house stafi iI; the U.S. in 197% ?t. Out of 732 FMGs, only 36 were U.S. bo*.n and 6 were naturalized U.S. citizens. 30f course, there were more than 13,480 individuals trained as physici ns residing in thu SOW of ihose trained as physicians da not lind it wrrrth 'Stevens et al. found that 75 percen! of a sample of F Gs working us h .NJS~ stafT in 1973-74 ~~~~en{~ed to stay in the C1.S. This may understate thz true percentage, since. those on temporary \ isas have incentives to misstate intentions. Haug and Stevens found that, of d cohort of I:MGs I~re III 1963, over 80 percent were still here in 1971. Neither stutly is ~~~~~~~~d LO ~hl~ipp~t~~ EVlGS. rovide indications tilat the return to physician training sn the Phil aken into account. First, if it pru unteci value of physician training is
Rivista Internazionale de Economia dei Trasporti, Feb 1, 1989
EFFECT OF USING COMPANY VS INDUSTRY EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS ON EMPLOYEES QUALIFYING FOR COMPENSATION
Atlantic Economic Journal, Sep 1, 1981
... cases; the slope ofBD, Peo/teo, repre-sents income per unit of time spent treating dis-cretio... more ... cases; the slope ofBD, Peo/teo, repre-sents income per unit of time spent treating dis-cretionary cases in the office. These slopes do not have to be equal. As drawn in Figure I, the Figure ][ INCOME C po 0 WORK Page 3. FELDMAN, GOLDFARB, RAFFERTY AND GOLDFARB: ...
Journal of Economic Education, Jul 1, 2013
Shortages, while rare, do appear in the United States. Under what circumstances might this happen... more Shortages, while rare, do appear in the United States. Under what circumstances might this happen? Which alleged shortages are “true” economic shortages? When do true shortages emerge in a market economy? What does this tell us about how market economies work? Six types or categories of “true” economic shortages and one category of alleged shortages are identified in this article. Examples include shortages of Christmas toys, flu vaccines, nurses, concert and sporting event tickets, airline seats, parking spaces, and blood supply. Do a few fundamental underlying causes link the six categories? Questions for class discussion are included throughout.
Advances in health economics and health services research, Dec 2, 2006
This paper presents a behavioral economics model with bounded rationality to describe an individu... more This paper presents a behavioral economics model with bounded rationality to describe an individual's food consumption choices that lead to weight gain and dieting. Using a physiological relationship determining calories needed to maintain weight, we simulate the food consumption choices of a representative female over a 30 year period. Results show that a diet will reduce weight only temporarily. Recurrence of weight gain leads to cyclical dieting, which reduces the trend rate of weight increase. Dieting frequency is shown to depend on decision period length, dieting costs, and habit persistence.
Journal of Labor Research, Sep 1, 1983
The Davis-Bacon Act requires labor on most federally financed construction projects to be paid a ... more The Davis-Bacon Act requires labor on most federally financed construction projects to be paid a minimum wage, often equal to the union wage. Since contractors are apt to employ higher quality labor at this higher wage, Davis-Bacon supporters argue that higher quality output will result. Contrary to this reasoning, our paper shows that a Davis-Bacon type rule need not improve
Research in the history of economic thought and methodology, Sep 7, 2005
Distribution concerns who gets what. But does "who" refer to the personal distribution of income ... more Distribution concerns who gets what. But does "who" refer to the personal distribution of income among individuals or the functional distribution of income among suppliers of productive factors? For nearly 150 years, Anglophone distribution theory followed the Ricardian emphasis on functional distribution-the income shares of labor, land, and capital. Only beginning in the 1960s, and consolidated by a research outpouring in the early 1970s, does mainstream economics turn to the personal conception of distribution. This essay documents Anglophone (primarily American) economics' move from functional to personal distribution, and tries to illuminate something of its causes and timing.
Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, Aug 1, 2008
Widespread and continuing discussions of nursing shortages frequently involve divergent concepts ... more Widespread and continuing discussions of nursing shortages frequently involve divergent concepts of shortage that can have differing policy implications. This article explains the shortage concepts used by economists, hospital administrators, and government policy makers. It discusses measurement problems and suggests possible improvements. It then sets forth the divergent policy implications of competing shortage concepts. The article's aim is to promote greater clarity in analyses of nursing shortages and more fruitful conversations among participants who use different notions of shortages.
Journal of Economic Methodology, Jun 1, 1998
... I economics Bryan L. Boulier and Robert S. Goldfarb ... While this line of argument seems to ... more ... I economics Bryan L. Boulier and Robert S. Goldfarb ... While this line of argument seems to have gone virtually unchallenged among most economists, there are serious observers who do not accept it. Alan Blinder (1991), for example, explicitly disagrees. ...
Journal of Health Economics, 1999
In this paper we present a model in which individuals act in their own best interest, to explain ... more In this paper we present a model in which individuals act in their own best interest, to explain many behaviors associated with cigarette addiction. There are two key features of the model. First, there is an explicit representation of the withdrawal effects experienced when smokers attempt to quit smoking. Second, there is explicit recognition that the negative effects of smoking generally appear late in an individual's life. Among the things Ž. we use the model to explain are: 1 how individuals can become trapped in their decision Ž. to smoke; 2 the conditions under which cold-turkey quitting and gradual quitting may Ž. occur; and 3 a reason for the existence of quit-smoking treatments.
Journal of Economic Methodology, 2001
Some empirically minded philosophers of science argue that the evidence should choose the best th... more Some empirically minded philosophers of science argue that the evidence should choose the best theory from among theoretical rivals. H owever, the evidence may not speak clearly, a problem of 'underdetermination of theory by data'. We examine this problem in a concrete setting, rival theories of smoking behaviour. We investigate whether several uncontested pieces of empirical evidence allow us to choose between two competing theoretical perspectives on smoking, rational choice and non-rational choice, respectively. N ext, we develop a more re ned taxonom y of smoking theories, and consider the consequences for theory testing. F inally, we examine some normative aspects of theory choice involving the appropriate scope of government action.
Forum for Health Economics & Policy, Nov 19, 2008
This paper contributes to the economics literature on nursing market shortages by putting forward... more This paper contributes to the economics literature on nursing market shortages by putting forward two new models that suggest three new explanations for perceived nursing shortages. The first model focuses on hospitals hiring both permanent staff nurses and temporary contract nurses. It shows that hiring both classes of nurses can represent optimizing behavior, and that an interesting kind of perceived nursing shortage results from this dual hiring. The second model posits two classes of hospitals, "premier" and "funds-constrained," and generates two distinct kinds of nursing shortages: economic shortages, involving unfilled, budgeted positions, and "noneconomic" professional standards shortages. We believe that the perceived existence of professional standards shortages may be a significant explanation for the widespread impression of persistent shortages.
B E Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, May 16, 2007
Vaccination provides indirect benefits to the unvaccinated. Despite its important policy implicat... more Vaccination provides indirect benefits to the unvaccinated. Despite its important policy implications, there is little analytical or empirical work to quantify this externality, nor is it incorporated in a number of cost-benefit studies of vaccine programs. We use a standard epidemiological model to analyze how the magnitude of this externality varies with the number of vaccinations, vaccine efficacy, and disease infectiousness. We also provide empirical estimates using parameters for influenza and mumps epidemics. The pattern of the externality is complex and striking, unlike that suggested in standard treatments. The size of the externality is not necessarily monotonic in the number vaccinated, vaccine efficacy, nor disease infectiousness. Moreover, its magnitude can be remarkably large. In particular, the marginal externality of a vaccination can be greater than one case of illness prevented among the nonvaccinated, so its omission from policy analyses implies serious biases.
Journal of Economic Methodology, Dec 1, 1995
... Their specific derived 'point estimate of the number of unrejected null hypotheses t... more ... Their specific derived 'point estimate of the number of unrejected null hypotheses that are true is. . .no greater than nine times the number of null hypotheses with reported marginal significance levels between 0.9 and 1 .O' (p. 1262). ...
Public Choice, 1983
Our paper has considered possible justifications for compensation in the specific context of the ... more Our paper has considered possible justifications for compensation in the specific context of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. While the concept of severance pay for dislocations caused by deregulation is consistent with all of the pro-compensation rationales discussed in Section 4, specific severance pay schemes are generally consistent only with particular rationales. This suggests that some insight into the
Journal of Labor Research, Dec 1, 1984
One of the original arguments in support of the Davis-Bacon Act was that local construction labor... more One of the original arguments in support of the Davis-Bacon Act was that local construction labor would be protected from wage-busting on federal projects by “ruthless non-local contractors” using low-wage, itinerant labor. A related, current claim is that Davis-Bacon prevents lower quality non-local firms from winning contracts by underbidding local labor; thus, Davis-Bacon helps to ensure the quality of construction. This paper first evaluates whether the use of itinerant non-local firmsnecessarily results in lower quality output. Using the “traveling” symphony orchestra as an analogy, the answer is clearly “no.” Second, if higher quality output may be produced by non-local firms, is this likely to happen in construction? Third, does a Davis-Bacon type of wage floor ensure that local projects will be built by local firms or crews?
Economics and Philosophy, Apr 1, 1991
Since a paradigmatic approach is judged in part by the range of phenomena it can explain, neoclas... more Since a paradigmatic approach is judged in part by the range of phenomena it can explain, neoclassical microeconomists have no doubt gained assurance about the power of their paradigm by the invasion of economics into a number of related fields, what Hirschleifer (1985) has referred to as the “expanding domain of economics.” Moreover, even beyond these excursions into the provinces of other social sciences concerned with human behavior, economics has also recently expanded into the analysis of animal behavior (cf. Battalio, Kagel, and McDonald, 1985). This development not only adds more scientific prestige to the approach, but allows economists to use research techniques developed in more experimentally oriented disciplines.
Uploads
Papers by Robert Goldfarb