The Economics of Discrimination

by Gary S. Becker

Book Overview

This second edition of Gary S. Becker's The Economics of Discrimination has been expanded to include three further discussions of the problem and an entirely new introduction which considers the contributions made by others in recent years and some of the more important problems remaining.

Mr. Becker's work confronts the economic effects of discrimination in the market place because of race, religion, sex, color, social class, personality,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226041166
• ISBN13: 9780226041162
• Release Date: August 1971
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 178 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Discrimination

nearly 50 years after Becker wrote it, this book still serves as a cornerstone for the economics of discrimination. it is still as insightful and controversial as it was when it was published. Becker's ability to apply economics in areas where it is not traditionally used makes this work a must read for anyone interested in discrimination.

The definitive work on discrimination

The Economics of Discrimination is the single most important book written about the topic of discrimination. Dr. Becker, a scholar of the Chicago school, won the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in topics such as discrimination. In this book, the founding father of economic "imperialism" (the application of rational choice models to the topics usually reserved for other disciplines), presents an interesting hypothesis: free markets, through the profit maximizing incentive, are the best way to combat racism and bigotry.The logic is simple: bigotry, if practiced by employers, has a cost. The best, most greed-driven profit maximizers will have no demand for this sort of strange, cost-imposing behavior. In a competitive market, we can expect that this behavior would lead directly to bankruptcy, and rightly so. Free markets provide the profit incentive for a color-blind society. Where would you expect to see the most discrimination, then? Government, of course, because it lacks profit incentives. Not-for-profit organizations are also easy victims. In other venues, discrimination is just too costly to be viable. Restrictions on the ability to choose, though, do nothing to stop bigotry, only to encourage it.This book delves in to this argument in great detail with total academic honesty, and it is thoroughly researched, well documented, and succinctly presented. Dr. Becker is a first rate scientist and an excellent writer, and even though this was written early in his academic career it still carries his signature style. This book is a complete, definitive, authoritative work on the subject, but also suitable as an introduction. It could be readable by anyone with elementary economic knowledge, and even by the intelligent lay person. Anyone who wants to know what discrimination is really about and what we can do about it would do well to read and understand this book. No argument about discrimination is complete without understanding the logic and models Dr. Becker presents.As a contribution to an impressive trend of applying the economic way of thinking to the most important issues we face, this book is absolutely invaluable. If this book interests you as much as it did me, you may want to read other books by Dr. Becker. For more about discrimation, though, try The State Against Blacks by Walter Williams.

No

I disagree, but the previous reviewer has a right to be wrong.

Classic work in the study of the effects of discrimination

Gary Becker turned his thesis paper into one of the classic works on discrimination. Becker demonstrated conclusively why irrational discrimination (or the overt act derived from the intent of racism, sexism, etc.) is difficult to maintain in a truly competitive economy. Competitors, seeking advantage, will hire victims of discrimination. Their labor costs will be lower. All else being equal, financial captial will flow to companies with lower labor costs, providing them with further competitive advantage. Eventually the price of labor for victims of discrimination will be "bid up" to the point where the marginal revenues from labor will equal the marginal cost of labor, at which point their average wages will reflect little, if any, loss of income from discrimination.