Reflections on the State of the Art in Labor Economics 3 William Darity, Jr. /I 21 ESSAYS 1 The Methodology and Practice of Modern Labor 23 Economics: A Critique Rhonda M. Williams 2 Discrimination Against Women: Theory and Evidence 53 Francine D. Blau 3 Theoretical Explanations of the Persistence of Racial 91 Unemployment Differentials Julianne Malveaux 4 The Effect of Racial Differences in Background 119 on Schooling: A Survey Linda P. Datcher 5 133 Occupational Safety and Health Regulation and Economic Theory William T. Dickens v vi CONTENTS 6 Structure, Process, and the Labor Market 175 Samuel Friedman 7 The Phillips Curve Controversy and Orthodox 219 Visions of the Labor Market Kathryn E. Allen 11/ COMMENTS 239 Comment on Chapters by Blau and Datcher 241 Saul D. Hoffman Labor Economics, Preferences, and the 257 Rationality Assumption: A Comment on Blau, Dickens, and Malveaux Samuel L. Myers, Jr. Occupational Safety and Health Regulation and 269 Economic Theory: A Comment Stephen A. Woodbury A Comment on the Market in Labor Power 279 Paul Zarembka Author Index 285 Subject Index 289 Contributing Authors 295 I INTRODUCTION REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE OF THE ART IN LABOR ECONOMICS William Darity, Jr. Preliminary Remarks As Rhonda Williams observes in the lead chapter in this volume, modern labor economics has become, for the most part, an extensive branch of ap plied microeconomics. Williams'' observation has been echoed by Paul McNulty (pp.