| Abstract: | Presents a relatively simple economic model of the market for psychologists as an attempt to answer questions relating to (a) changes in the labor market for psychologists and other scientists, (b) variance over time in the number of college students choosing psychology, and (c) rate of salary increase. The model is based on supply, demand, and their interaction. The economic analysis of professional markets is based on response to salaries by students and experienced specialists, adjustment of salaries to changes in market conditions, and response of employers to salaries. Depending on time patterns of response, analysis generated cobweb, incomplete, and simultaneous adjustment mechanisms. The increasing role of the federal government in professional markets is seen as an important determinant of supply and demand. The economic model is discussed in relation to issues relating to (a) long-term changes in the supply of psychologists, (b) post-World War II changes in supply and salary, (c) the reallocation of specialists among industrial sectors and subfields, and (d) the future state of the market. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
