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Welcome to Econ 325 Economics of Gender. Week 1 Beginning January 22. Monday, January 22. Introduction Do you have the prerequisite for this course? Major/minor Interest A question for me?. Personal Index Cards. Name Campus address Campus phone number Cell phone number
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Welcome to Econ 325 Economics of Gender Week 1 Beginning January 22
Monday, January 22 • Introduction • Do you have the prerequisite for this course? • Major/minor • Interest • A question for me?
Personal Index Cards • Name • Campus address • Campus phone number • Cell phone number • Work phone number
Me website • www.marietta.edu/~khorassj • Are you eligible for ODE membership? • ERT membership
Before Wednesday • Study • Course Contract • Course Outline • Chapter 1 • Be prepared for ICA • Think about your paper
What is Economics? • Resources are limited • Wants are unlimited • Can’t have everything • Need to make a decision • Economics studies how people make these decisions
What is Opportunity Cost? • The more resources we use to produce good “A” the less resources are available to produce good “B” • Opportunity cost of producing additional unit of good “A” is the amount of good “B” not produced.
Question • What is the opportunity cost of being a full-time housewife/ househusband? • Is the opportunity cost the same for everybody?
Wednesday, January 24 • Congress has so far spent more than $320 billion on the war. That amount of money could have provided • health care coverage for all uninsured children for as long as the Iraq War has lasted. • four-year scholarships (tuition and fees) to a public university for all of this year’s graduating seniors. • Funds to build half a million affordable housing units. • What is the opportunity cost of the war?
What does the assumption of rationality mean? • If given your constraints, you make the best decision for you, you are rational. • “Best” usually means benefits > costs. • “Best” sometimes means minimizing cost.
What are your constraints? • Knowledge/Information • Social/ family/ legal constraints /traditions • Was your decision to marry x rational? • Was your decision to stay home after you had kids rational?
Households/Families • A couple of students renting an apartment together and sharing their living expenses are a __________ but not a ________. • You live alone. You are a ________ but not a __________. • You live with your parents in a house. You and your parents are a __________ and a _______.
Sex/ Gender • Sexual differences = biological differences • Gender differences = social differences
ICA1 • Is the following statement true or false? Explain. “We are planning to cover about half of the textbook in this course.” • Briefly describe the nature of the paper you have to write for this class.
Labor Market • Price of Labor • Labor Demand Curve • It is downward sloping. Why? • Three Reasons: • Diminishing marginal productivity (short-run) • Substitution effect (long-run) • Scale effect (short-run & long-run)
Labor Market • Labor Supply Curve • It slopes upward. Why? • Equilibrium • Changes in equilibrium • What if labor becomes less productive
OCA1: due Friday in class • # 4, page 12. Draw a separate graph for each question and describe the changes in the equilibrium wage rate and the number of workers.
Friday, January 26 • Any more thoughts regarding your paper? • Return ICA 1
Collect OCA1 • # 4, page 12. Draw a separate graph for each question and describe the changes in the equilibrium wage rate and the number of workers.
ICA2 (in teams) • Government expands its child care subsidy program. How does this affect the average wage rate and the number of employed workers? Draw a graph and explain.
Changing Roles (Chapter 2) • Until recent years • Men were hunters, providers, protectors, and competitive • Women were care givers, nurturing, compliant, and not competitive • In recent years • Women may be providers • Men may be nurturing Would the differences disappear?
What are some factors affecting role differences? • Physiological/biological • Psychological • Norms/expectations/cultures • Economic • Technology • Which of the above factors are more likely to change over time?
Differences • Don’t need to determine superiority/inferiority • Are somewhat exaggerated • The opposite sex? • There are similarities
Study • The rest of Chapter 2 on your own. • Pay attention to Table 2.1, page 29. • Expect ICA