Javier A. Birchenall

Income distribution, human capital and economic growth in Colombia

Abstract Colombian income distribution has followed a clear path during the last two decades: in the second half of the 1970s, human capital accumulation reduced the dispersion of income distribution, and lead to a period of stagnation between 1983 and 1990, when mobility declined. After the structural reforms (a skill-bias technological change), the wage differential for skilled workers increased inequality by a polarization in the bi-modal distribution of income. These topics are discussed in the paper along some dynamic aspects of income and educational mobility in Colombia.

Gallantry in Action: Evidence of Advantageous Selection in a Voluntary Army

A voluntary army’s quality exceeds or falls below a drafted army’s average quality depending on whether selection is advantageous or adverse. Using a collection of data sets that cover the majority of the US Army soldiers during World War II, we test for adverse selection into the army. Rather, we find advantageous selection: volunteers and drafted men showed no significant difference in fatalities, but volunteers earned distinguished awards at a higher rate than drafted men, particularly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Analyses at the level of units concur with our findings based on enlistment records.