--%>
Assignment Help - homework help

Okun's Law Coefficient Is so Large

Why the Okun's Law Coefficient Is so Large? Okun's Law posits not a 1-to-1 relation but a 2.5-to-1 relationship between real GDP growth and the unemployment rate. That is, a one percentage-point fall in the unemployment rate is associated not with a 1 but a 2.5 percent boost in the level of production. Why is this Okun's Law coefficient so large? Why isn't it the case that a one percentage point fall in unemployment produces a one percent rise in output, or even less? One answer is that the unemployment rate, as officially measured, does not count discouraged workers. In a recession, the number of people at work falls, the number of people looking for work rises, and the number of people who are not looking for work because they doubt they could find jobs--but would be working if business conditions were better--rises. Because the conventionally-measured unemployment rate does not include these discouraged workers, more than a 1 percent rise in real GDP is needed to reduce the unemployment rate by 1 percentage point. Moreover, when business returns to normal, firms' initial response is not to hire more employees, but to ask existing employees to work longer hours. So average hours of work per week go up, and the unemployment rate falls by less than one would otherwise expect. Finally, in some industries employing more workers increases production by more than a proportional amount: product design and set-up need to be done only once, no matter how much is produced. Thus businesses which have economies of scale do not need twice as many workers to produce twice as much output.

   Related Questions in Microeconomics

  • Q : Problem on Minimum Wage Sec. A :The

    Sec. A:The Bureau of Labor Statistics of a small state has asked you to analyze a minimum wage policy to support unskilled workers in the State’s local economy, which is still suffering from the effects of the recession.  Based on

    		•
  • Q : Experiencing the Diminishing Marginal

    James has watched a latest blockbuster film twice a week for the precedent three weeks and can now narrate most of the dialogue. He is probably starting to experience: (1) Disequilibrium. (2) Diminishing the marginal utility. (3) Diminished capacity. (4) Clinical depr

    		•
  • Q : What is revenue deficit in government

    Revenue deficit in government budget: Whenever the revenue expenses of the government is more than the revenue receipts it is termed as revenue deficit Revenue expenditure > Revenue receipts

  • Q : Proprietorships-Limited liability Which

    Which of the given below is not a benefit of the sole proprietorship? (i) Limited liability. (ii) Easiness of organization. (iii) Flexibility. (iv) Freedom from govt. regulation. Choose the right answer from the above options.

    		•
  • Q : Resources and Products Flow Model I

    I have a problem in economics on Resources and Products Flow Model. Please help me in the following question. The eventual owners of all resources and products in the society are as follows: (i) households. (ii) Firms. (iii) The tax-paying public. (iv

    		•
  • Q : Differences in the arc elasticities of

    The dissimilarities in the arc elasticities of demands for labor among the Ajax Corporation and Bosun Limited are consistent along with an inference which Bosun: (1) is a more profitable firm than Ajax. (2) hires more highly skilled workers than Ajax

    		•
  • Q : Consuming equal successive units of good

    The idea that additional satisfaction ultimately declines from consuming equivalent successive units of any good is the law of: (1) Consumer deficits. (2) Equivalent marginal utilities per dollar. (3) Diminishing marginal utility. (4) Veblen’s inequality. (5) Co

    		•
  • Q : Price elasticity for quantities and

    Suppose that all these curves are infinitely long straight lines. There supply curve which is relatively (although not perfectly) price elastic for all quantities and prices is: (1) supply curve S1. (2) supply curve S2. (3) suppl

    		•
  • Q : Define abnormal profit Abnormal profit:

    Abnormal profit: It is the gain earned over and above the normal profit.

    		•
  • Q : Increasing-cost industries average

    Within increasing-cost industries average there are: (w) production costs fall as output increases. (x) production costs rise as the number of firms in the industry grows. (y) production costs rise when the number of firms into the industry falls. (z)

    		•