Economics Faculty Publications

(Review) The Myth of Adam Smith

Spencer J. Pack — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:51:46 PDT

The Myth of Adam Smith, By Salim Rashid. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 1998. Pp. X, 227. $80.00

(Review) A Short History of Ethics and Economics: The Greeks

Spencer J. Pack — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:35:06 PDT

(Review) Self-Interest Before Adam Smith: A Genealogy of Economic Science

Spencer J. Pack — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:35:04 PDT

Pierre Force, Self-Interest Before Adam Smith: A Genealogy of Economic Science (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. ix, 279, $65.00. ISBN 0-521 83060-5.

How the Right Got Adam Smith Wrong on the Eve of Environmental (and Hence Economic) Catastrophe

Spencer J. Pack — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:25:50 PDT

Murray Rothbard’s Adam Smith

Spencer J. Pack — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:25:48 PDT

Struggling to Provide: a portrait of Alameda County Homecare Workers

Candace Howes et al. — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:52:51 PDT

Alameda County employs nearly 8,000 homecare workers to help disabled and elderly persons live independently. Over one-third of these workers and their families—about 2,800—earn incomes that are below the official Federal poverty threshold. Many more struggle to meet basic daily needs and have to make difficult choices between caring for themselves and caring for others. Struggling to Provide is based on a recent survey of homecare workers in Alameda County that illustrates the insecure conditions in which many homecare workers live.

Who will care for the women?

Candace Howes — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:52:50 PDT

Over 20 million people today, including children, working-age disabled, and elderly persons, require some sort of assistance to live safely. Largely because women live longer than men, well into the ages when the probability of needing care increases, 70 percent of elderly people who need long-term care are women. Furthermore, most long-term care is provided by women, mainly as unpaid care in the home, or as low-paid care in institutions and community settings (Stone & Weiner 2001). The United States faces a severe long-term care crisis because of the nation's inability to plan for the changing demographic balance. The crisis in long term care has two problems: a) that we are putting too many resources into institutional care relative to home- and community-based care and relying too heavily on unpaid care in the home to meet the real needs of the aging population, and b) that we do not, and increasingly will not, have enough people to provide for the volume of care that will be needed in the coming decades. This chapter begins with a description of the long-term care system in the United States – what long-term care is, who needs it, in what settings it is provided, and who pays for it. Using the author's analysis of a national survey of caregivers conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the AARP in 2003 along with other sources, this section shows that a substantial portion of the people who need long-term care rely on unpaid care from family and friends, mainly women. When people do receive paid care, almost half – mostly women -- receive it in institutional settings. The discussion demonstrates that women are far more likely to end up in institutions than men, even controlling for age and level of impairment. It then argues that, for a number of reasons, states and the federal government will have to respond to the preferences of consumers for home- and community-based care.

For Love, Money or Flexibility: Why people choose to work in consumer-directed homecare

Candace Howes — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:52:49 PDT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of wages and benefits (relative to other jobs available to workers), controlling for personal characteristics, on the recruitment and retention of providers working in a consumer-directed home care program.

This article was written as part of a project titled ‘‘Building a High Quality Homecare Workforce: Wages, Benefits and Flexibility Matter,’’ which was supported by a research grant from the Better Jobs Better Care Program and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (#049213) and Atlantic Philanthropies (#12099) with direction and technical assistance provided by the Institute for the Future of Aging Services, American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.

California’s In-Home Supportive Services Program: Who is Served?

Debi Waterstone et al. — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:52:47 PDT

Governor Schwarzenegger's preliminary 2004-05 Budget Bill proposed to eliminate a component of California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program serving approximately 68,000 individuals. This component, known as the Residual Program, included Protective Supervision and Domestic Care services and services provided by parents and spouses. Under the then existing regulations and the state's approved state plan for Medicaid, these services did not qualify for shared financing with the Medicaid program and were thus funded solely by state and county sources. The objective of the administration's proposal was to obtain an estimated net savings from the IHSS program in Fiscal Year 2005 of $366 million.

Living Wages and the Retention of Homecare Workers in San Francisco

Candace Howes — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:52:39 PDT

This study records the impact on workforce retention of the nearly doubling of wages for homecare workers in San Francisco County over a 52-month period. Using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis I find that the annual retention rate of new providers rose from 39 percent to 74 percent following significant wage and benefit increases and that a $1 increase in the wage rate from $8 an hour – the national average wage for homecare – would increase retention by 17 percentage points. I also show that adding health insurance increases the retention rate by 21 percentage points.

Upgrading California’s Home Care Workforce: the impact of political Action and Unionization

Candace Howes — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:52:37 PDT

Candace Howes examines the recent history of one of California's rapidly growing occupations: home care. As the author's analysis demonstrates, home care has been extensively transformed in recent years through large-scale unionization and coalition-based political action, which have led to major improvements in wages and benefits. Apart from providing many home care workers with better pay, the upgrading of this occupation has also improved the quality of care that clients receive, since higher wages make for lower turnover. The improved working and living conditions that result benefit caregivers and those they serve alike. The author's empirical analysis has obvious ramifications for low-wage employment generally, particularly in the burgeoning health care and personal services sector.

The Impact of a large wage increase on the workforce stability of IHSS Home Care Workers in San Francisco County

Candace Howes — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:52:34 PDT

This study is one of the very few large-scale empirical investigations of the effect of wages on labor market outcomes in any direct care industry, and possibly the only such study specifically addressing conditions in the homecare industry. It records the impact of the nearly doubling of wages for IHSS homecare workers in San Francisco County over a 52 month period. The project is based on a unique database, which matches approximately 18,000 San Francisco County homecare workers in 26,115 unique matches to 15,500 service recipients between November 1997 and February 2002.

Hush Slimbaugh and the Economics of Darkness: A Parable for Our Times

Spencer J. Pack — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:34:37 PST