Reflections on Chapter 19: Earnings & Discrimination

Post three of your "margin notes" from your reading of the chapter to your blog.  Why did you make the comment you made in the margin?  What did you find confusing, useful, or important about the passage you commented on?

Unfortunately, I don't really write "margin notes". One reason is that the book's not mine so I can't write in the margins but mostly it's because I write my notes strictly on what I'm getting from the text. However, I was commenting mentally as I was taking notes on this chapter. 

1. In the microcosm that is Summit County, CO...people with more education don't necessarily get paid more, especially in the human capital way and certainly not at double the pay rate. Unfortunately, staying in school to earn more money is not an incentive here. I believe the number of college educated people is disproportionately high here compared to the national average and that may be one reason for the lack of wage gap. 
2. Education as a signal is the theory that is more widely accepted in Summit County for getting the job you want more than it is a way to earn more money in the same job. I think the reason is that most college grads are not using their specific college education in their current profession since there are many career opportunities here in the ski resort industry and relatively few others. 
3. I agree that it's difficult to measure discrimination between sexes since worker preference plays a large role in career choice. Firms would be smart to customize their structure to a less competitive, more cooperative format to attract the lower waged but just as productive female workers. In theory, they would earn more profits than their competitors who were, possibly unknowingly, discriminating.