KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
COURSE SYLLABUS - FALL, 2001
ECON 32083 – ECONOMICS OF POVERTY
Instructor:
Office:
Office Phone:
Email:
Office Hours:
Web Page:
Dr. Kathryn Wilson
464 Business Administration Building
672-1093
kwilson@bsa3.kent.edu
Monday 2:00 - 5:00; Tuesday and Thursday 9:30 – 10:30 (and by appointment)
http://www.personal.kent.edu/~kwilson3
Course Description: This class will examine what is meant by poverty, who is in poverty, the causes of
poverty, and government programs targeted towards alleviating poverty. While the focus will be on
poverty in the United States, some international aspects of poverty will also be discussed.
Course Prerequisite: ECON 22060, Principles of Microeconomics.
Texts: There are two required texts for the class: The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination, 8th
Edition, Bradley Schiller, Prentice Hall, 2001; Amazing Grace, Jonathan Kozol, Harper, 1995. In
addition, there will be a variety of outside readings that are available from electronic reserves on the
internet. Students go to http://reserves.library.kent.edu (note there is not a www) and click on Electronic
Reserves: Documents and Course Materials to access this course. The password for the class is
poverty01. If a student is not familiar with the electronic reserve system, I suggest clicking on the link to
“Tips for using electronic reserves.” I have also listed the full web site for those items that can be found
on the web. Those items that say “lexis-nexis” can be found using the Ohiolink Database Lexis Nexis.
(Note, though, that all the outside readings are available from electronic reserves.) It is expected that
students will have completed the assigned reading prior to coming to class.
Exams: There will be a midterm exam and a final exam. Each exam will be equally weighted to be
worth 35% of the course grade. Make-up exams are only given if notification is presented, in advance, of
a university-defined legitimate absence. If a student is ill on exam day, a phone message must be left at
672-1093 before the time of the exam, and health services or a doctor must give verification of the illness.
If I am not informed prior to the exam, no make-up exam will be given.
Papers: There will be six short papers during the semester. For each chapter of Amazing Grace by
Jonathan Kozol, students will write a 1 to 3 page double-spaced, typed paper that includes their personal
reflections on the chapter and relates some aspect of the chapter to material learned in class. The due
dates for the papers are: Sept. 10, Sept. 24, Oct. 8, Oct. 28, Nov. 19, and Dec. 3. The papers are worth
30% of the course grade.
Grading Scale:
90% +
80-89%
70-79%
60-69%
less 60%
A
B
C
D
F
Students with Disabilities: In accordance with University policy, if you have a documented disability
and require accommodations to obtain equal access in this course, please contact the professor at the
beginning of the semester or when given an assignment for which an accommodation is required.
Students with disabilities must verify their eligibility through the Office of Student Disability Services in
the Michael Schwartz Student Center (672-3391).
Drop Date: Consistent with the catalog, the last date to withdraw from the class is November 3.
Course Registration: Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes. You
are advised to review your official class schedule during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure you
are properly enrolled in this class and section. Should you find an error in your class schedule, you have
until Friday, September 7, 2001 to correct it with your advising office. If registration errors are not
corrected by this date and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you are not officially
enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester for any
class in which you are not properly registered.
Academic Honesty: Cheating will not be tolerated. Cheating includes looking at someone else’s exam,
looking at notes or other materials during exams, or misrepresenting the source, nature, or other
conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers) so as to get undeserved credit. Both the person
copying and the person being copied from will be subject to disciplinary action. It is the University’s
policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course. Repeat
offenses result in dismissal from the University.
Topics and Assigned Readings
August 27
Introduction
September 3
No Class – Labor Day
September 10
Definition of poverty; who are poor?
Schiller Chapters 1, 2
Measuring Poverty Summary & Recommendations, pp. 1-16
(http://www.nap.edu/books/0309051282/html/index.html)
[click on Summary and Recommendations]
The level, trend, and composition of poverty (Gary Burtless and Timothy Smeeding)
Focus, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall, 2000 pp. 4-8 (http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus/focus.htm)
Poverty, by the Numbers (Spencer Rich) The National Journal, March 10, 2001 (Lexis-Nexis)
How to Define Poverty? Let Us Count the Ways (Louis Uchitelle), The New York Times,
May 26, 2001 (Lexis-Nexis)
Kozol’s Amazing Grace Chapter 1; Paper Due
September 17
Labor Part 1
Schiller Chapters 3, 4
A Profile of the Working Poor, 1999, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
(http://stats.bls.gov/cpswp99.htm)
“A Changing Economy,” Chapter 2 in It Takes a Nation, Rebecca Blank, Russell Sage Foundation
and Princeton University Press, 1997.
Project to Rescue Needy Stumbles Against the Persistence of Poverty (Jason DeParle), The New
York Times, May 15, 1999 (Lexis-Nexis)
September 24
Labor Part 2
Schiller Chapters 3, 4 (continued)
Plight of the Working Poor (David Ellwood) Children’s Roundtable, No. 2, Nov. 1999
Brookings Institute (http://www.brook.edu/comm/childrensroundtable/issue2.htm)
The rising tide lifts…? (Richard Freeman) Focus, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall, 2000 pp. 27-31
(http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus/focus.htm)
Kozol’s Amazing Grace Chapter 2; Paper Due
October 1
Age and Health; Family Structure
Schiller Chapters 5, 6
Health Policies for the nonelderly poor (John Mullahy and Barbara Wolfe) Focus, Vol. 21,
No. 2, Fall, 2000 pp. 32-37 (http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus/focus.htm)
Changes in family structure: Implications for poverty and related policy (Maria Cancian
and Deborah Reed) Focus, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall, 2000 pp. 21-26
(http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus/focus.htm)
Early Sex Abuse Hinders Many Women on Welfare (Jason DeParle), The New York Times,
November 28, 1999 (Lexis-Nexis)
October 8
The Underclass; Education
Schiller Chapters 7, 8
Mobility, Persistence, and the intergenerational determinants of children’s success (Mary
Corcoran) Focus, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall, 2000 pp. 16-20
(http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus/focus.htm)
The Underclass Revisited (Charles Murray) American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy
Research Papers and Studies (http://www.aei.org/ps/psmurray.htm)
Kozol’s Amazing Grace Chapter 3; Paper Due
October 14
Discrimination
Schiller Chapters 9, 10
What Has Economics to Say About Racial Discrimination? (Kenneth Arrow), Journal of
Economic Perspectives, Vol. 12, No. 2, Spring 1998, pp. 91-100
Detecting Discrimination (James Heckman), Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 12, No. 2,
Spring 1998, pp. 101-116
Evidence on Discrimination in Employment: Codes of Color, Codes of Gender (William Darity
and Patrick Mason), Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 12, No. 2, Spring 1998,
pp. 63-90
October 21
Midterm Exam
Begin Welfare
Schiller Chapter 11
October 28
Welfare (continued)
Schiller Chapter 11 (continued)
Welfare policy in transition: Redefining the social contract for poor citizen families with
children (LaDonna Pavetti) Focus, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall, 2000 pp. 44-50
(http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus/focus.htm)
Shrinking Welfare Rolls Leave Record High Share of Minorities (Jason DeParle) The New York
Times, July 27, 1998 (Lexis-Nexis)
Bold Effort Leaves Much Unchanged for the Poor (Jason DeParle) The New York Times,
December 30, 1999 (Lexis-Nexis)
Kozol’s Amazing Grace Chapter 4; Paper Due
November 5
Other Government Programs
Schiller Chapter 12
The evolution of income support policy in recent decades (John Karl Scholz and Kara Levine)
Focus, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall, 2000 pp. 9-15 (http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus/focus.htm)
The People Left Behind, The Economist (magazine), September 30, 2000 (Lexis-Nexis)
November 12
No Class – Veteran’s Day
November 19
Labor Market Options
Schiller Chapters 13, 14
Investing in the future: Reducing poverty through human capital investments (Lynn Karoly)
Focus, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall, 2000 pp. 38-43
(http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irp/focus/focus.htm)
What’s So Bad About a Living Wage? (Steven V. Brull) Business Week, September 4, 2000, p. 68
(Lexis-Nexis)
Life After Welfare – First Time Filers (Jason DeParle) The New York Times, March 21, 1999
(Lexis-Nexis)
Kozol’s Amazing Grace Chapter 5; Paper Due
November 26
International Issues
Poverty Trends and Voices of the Poor, 4th Edition, May 2001, The World Bank
(http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/data/trends/index.htm click on
“Download the full text version of the fourth edition of "Poverty Trends and
Voices of the Poor" (World Bank, May 2001) (383kb PDF file).”
Winners and Losers, The Economist (magazine), April 28, 2001 (Lexis-Nexis)
December 3
What Now? Pulling it all together and review for the final
Schiller Chapter 15
Anti-Poverty Policy for Families in the Next Century: From Welfare to Work—and Worries
(David Ellwood) J. of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 14, No. 1, Winter 2000, 187-198
Kozol’s Amazing Grace Chapter 6; Paper Due