Summary of the Papers – Microeconomics 1997

Peter C. Reiss

PCR

Peter C. Reiss

THIS ISSUE CONTAINS papers presented June 13 and 14, 1997, at the
eleventh meeting of the Brookings Microeconomics Panel. The five
papers in this volume address economic and policy issues in telecommunications,
labor turnover, health care, and antitrust law. Jerry A.
Hausman measures the value of new telecommunications services and
concludes that regulatory delays in offering these services cost consumers
billions of dollars. Henry S. Farber explores the incidence and
reasons for job loss in the 1990s and finds that the rate of job loss has
increased, despite the recent economic expansion. In the 1990s educated
workers experienced the greatest increase in job displacement
rates, even though less educated workers continued to have much higher
rates of overall job loss.