The Economics of Discrimination (Economic Research Studies) [Paperback]

Gary S. Becker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226041166 | ISBN-13: 978-0226041162 | Publication Date: August 15, 1971 | Edition: 2nd

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, or other non-pecuniary considerations. He demonstrates that discrimination in the market place by any group reduces their own real incomes as well as those of the minority.

The original edition of The Economics of Discrimination was warmly received by economists, sociologists, and psychologists alike for focusing the discerning eye of economic analysis upon a vital social problem—discrimination in the market place.

"This is an unusual book; not only is it filled with ingenious theorizing but the implications of the theory are boldly confronted with facts. . . . The intimate relation of the theory and observation has resulted in a book of great vitality on a subject whose interest and importance are obvious."—M.W. Reder, American Economic Review

"The author's solution to the problem of measuring the motive behind actual discrimination is something of a tour de force. . . . Sociologists in the field of race relations will wish to read this book."—Karl Schuessler, American Sociological Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 2nd edition (August 15, 1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226041166
• ISBN-13: 978-0226041162
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #397,507 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic work in the study of the effects of discrimination, May 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Economics of Discrimination (Economic Research Studies) (Paperback)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Costs are Pervasive, November 29, 2001

By 

D. W. MacKenzie (New London CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Economics of Discrimination (Economic Research Studies) (Paperback)

Milton Friedman has always insisted that there is no such thing as a free lunch. If Becker proves anything with this book, it is that he was a good student of Friedman's. The basic lesson of this book is that every choice we make has a cost. The employer who decides to discriminate against prospective employees who are more productive, but the `wrong race' end up paying higher real wages and earn less profits. The merchant who turns business away because of race loses revenue and profits.

The analysis of this book is far more complicated than what I have indicated, but the complexity of this book is not its strength. Becker is possible the worst of those economists who think that they make a positive contribution by "formalizing" common sense into a complex math model. You really do not need to know calculus to understand the basic logic behind substitution and income effects. For that matter, you do not need to know much about substitution and income effects to understand the common sense of opportunity cost thinking.

While the presentation of this book is overkill, Becker still deserves credit for taking on a controversial subject. The idea that markets tend to discourage racism is not very popular among academics now, and it was probably even less popular among us in 1971. The Economics of Discrimination deserves three stars for content, but five stars for intellectual courage.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive work on discrimination, May 17, 2003

By 

Zachary Gochenour (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Economics of Discrimination (Economic Research Studies) (Paperback)

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.