Margaret G. Reid

Effect of Varying Degrees of Transitory Income on Income Elasticity of Expenditures

Abstract Expenditure-income relations of selected groups of families are examined in two ways: (a) with the importance of transitory income increased and (b) with its importance decreased. The importance of the transitory income is increased by dividing groups of families into subgroups differing in permanent income, and then examining consumption in relation to current income of the subgroups. Such stratification tends to increase the importance of transitory income, since the more homogeneous the families are in permanent income the more the difference in income observed is transitory. The income elasticity of total expenditures is generally lower for the subgroups than for the entire groups—by 30 to 40 per cent. Similar tendencies also occur for expenditures for food, clothing and other consumer goods. The effect of the contrary tendency, i.e., reduced importance of transitory income, is tested by using mean income of consecutive years as a measure of economic status in place of current annual income. ...

Increase in Rent of Dwelling Units from 1940 to 1950

Abstract Average rent paid by nonfarm tenants increased greatly from 1940 to 1950. This change is described by the respective censuses of housing. Increased consumption and increased price both played a part. This conclusion is based on evidence presented in this paper. It examines variation among places in increase in rent paid in relation to change in the quantity and quality of housing, change in the price of housing as measured by the rent component of the Consumer Price Index of the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and by the importance of new construction entering the market in the late forties which was in large by measure free from rent control. The analysis presented in this paper indicates that the price of rental housing as measured by the price index was a highly significant factor explaining the change in average rent paid from 1940 to 1950. So also was change in stock. It was of two types: (1) units added by construction during the forties, and (2) change during the forties in the tenant sto...

THE EDITORS OF FORTUNE. The Changing American Market. Pp. 304. Garden City, N. Y.: Hanover House, 1955.

needed him, in order to make his award acceptable. Secondly, when the parties elect to submit the wage issue to arbitration each has concluded that it can gain its own vision of the wage no more effectively by any other device. Thirdly, that since the criteria of wage determination are something less than definitive their shortcomings are as hazardous to the arbitrator as they are to the parties. In consequence, &dquo;his problem is not to lay out a yardstick and measure off an amount, but, rather, to balance contesting standards in an exercise in responsible judgment.&dquo; The author’s analysis reveals that the criteria of wage determination are given sharply differing weights by the parties and arbitrators in the cases studied. He concludes, however, that the order of weight given to the most frequently used wage criteria by arbitrators appears to be: comparisons, normally intra-industry and less often inter-industry; cost of living; and financial condition of the employer. Other wage criteria that are rarely utilized by arbitrators include differential features of