The NBER Reporter 2010 Number 4: Books

The following three volumes may be ordered directly from the University of Chicago Press Distribution Center, at

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Labor in the New Economy

Labor in the New Economy, edited by Katharine G. Abraham, James R. Spletzer, and Michael Harper, is available from the University of Chicago Press for $110.00. This volume, Number 71 in the NBER's Studies in Income and Wealth, addresses the accurate measurement of labor market activity. As the structure of the economy has changed over the past few decades, researchers and policymakers have been increasingly concerned with how these changes may affect workers. In this book, leading economists examine a variety of important trends in the new economy, including inequality of earnings and other forms of compensation, job security, employer reliance on temporary and contract workers, hours of work, and workplace safety and health.

Abraham is a Research Associate in the NBER's Program in Labor Studies and a Professor of Survey Methodology and Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland. Spletzer and Harper are affiliated with the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC.

Demography and the Economy

Demography and the Economy, edited by John B. Shoven, is available from the University of Chicago Press for $110.00. Demographics is a field that is vital to our understanding of social and economic change, and it has become increasingly important in recent years as concerns have grown over the aging populations of developed nations. Demographic studies can offer insight into trends in fertility, mortality, immigration, and labor force participation, as well as age, gender, and race- specific trends in health and disability.

This NBER Conference Report explores the connections between demography and economics, and in particular what demographic trends can reveal about the sustainability of traditional social security programs and the larger implications for economic growth. Contributors analyze a variety of issues, including the impact of greater wealth on choices about marriage and childbearing and the effects of aging populations on housing prices, Social Security, and Medicare.

Shoven is a Research Associate in the NBER's Programs in Public Economics, Aging, and Economic Fluctuations and Growth. He is also the Charles R. Schwab Professor of Economics at Stanford University.

Founding Choices: American Economic Policy in the 1790s

Founding Choices: American Economic Policy in the 1790s, edited by Douglas A. Irwin and Richard Sylla, is available from the University of Chicago Press for $110.00 in the clothbound edition and $35.00 in paperback.

The political decisions made by the founding fathers were crucial to the success of the early republic, but their economic decisions were just as pivotal. This NBER Conference Report explores these economic choices and their profound influence on American life, westward expansion, and influence abroad. Among the topics covered are finance, trade, and monetary and banking policy. This book will be essential reading for historians and economists alike.

Irwin and Sylla are Research Associates in the NBER's Program on the Development of the American Economy. Irwin is also the Robert E. Maxwell '23 Professor of Arts and Sciences at Dartmouth College. Sylla is a Professor of Economics at New York University's Stern School of Business.

Regulation versus Litigation: Perspectives from Economics and Law

Regulation versus Litigation: Perspectives from Economics and Law, edited by Daniel P. Kessler, is available from the University of Chicago Press for $110.00.

Proponents of broad legislative standards enforced through litigation versus those who prefer regulation by administrative agencies vigorously debate the efficacy of each approach. This NBER Conference Report explores the trade-offs between litigation and regulation, how one approach may outperform the other at a particular time, and how to choose between the two in addressing particular economic activities. The analyses here are both theoretical and empirical and involve a range of industries, including public health, financial markets, medical care, and workplace safety.

Kessler is a Research Associate in the NBER's Program in Law and Economics and a Professor at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

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The following volume may be ordered directly from the University of Chicago Press Journals Division.

To order by telephone, call Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm Central Time, (773) 753-3347; or toll free in the U.S. and Canada, (877)705-1878. To order by mail, the address is: University of Chicago Distribution Center, 11030 South Langley Avenue, Chicago, IL 60628, (773)702-7000

Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 11

Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 11, edited by Josh Lerner and Scott Stern, is available from the University of Chicago Press Journals Division for $58.00 clothbound or $35.00 in electronic format.

The NBER's annual conferences on Innovation Policy and the Economy provide a forum for discussing how certain policies can affect the ability of an economy to achieve scientific and technological progress, and what impact science and technology can have on economic growth. This volume includes papers on: the failure of organizational innovation in health care; the interaction among cap-and-trade, emissions taxes, and innovation; and how science policy may evolve along with science itself.

Lerner and Stern are Research Associates in the NBER's Program on Productivity and co-direct NBER's Working Group on Innovation Policy. Lerner is the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at the Harvard Business School. Stern is a Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management at MIT's Sloan School of Management.

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