Question

Are the workings of the free market likely to encourage or discourage discrimination in the following examples? a. The musical director of a symphony orchestra that records but never performs in front of an audience refuses to hire female musicians. The workings of the free market are likely to Click to select) discrimination. b. In apartheid South Africa (where racial discrimination was legal and popular among white voters for many decades), a white business owner refuses to hire black candidates to work in management positions dealing with white customers. The workings of the free market are likely to (Click to select) discrimination. c. In a Martian culture in which blue hair is considered the most beautiful, a Martian modeling agency preferentially hires blue-haired models. The workings of the free market are likely to Click to select discrimination

Answer 1

Ans.

a.

Discourage discrimination - If the director hires only male musicians then he will have a relatively small pool of talented musicians to choose from, thus he does not have an incentive to refuse female musicians.

b.

Discourage discrimination - If the owner hires only white candidates for the management position to deal with white customers, he will face a shortage of eligible candidates. Due to workings of free market wages increase leading to an increase in cost for the business. Now the owner must choose either to stop discrimination or incur higher cost. If he chooses to incur higher cost, he will not be able to survive competition from other efficient businesses and will eventually exit the market.

c.

Encourage discrimination - Since blue hair is considered most beautiful in Martian culture, the demand for blue-haired models must be high. Hence the modeling agency has an incentive to hire blue-haired models.