Research by Author & Topic

Publications by Douglas A. Wissoker on Race, Ethnicity, Gender

This study examines whether small minority- and women-owned enterprises (MWEs) use computers less than white-male-owned enterprises and whether higher levels of computer use increase productivity. We use data from a new telephone survey of roughly 1,100 firms and 45 in-depth interviews with business owners. The results suggest that: (1) Small MWEs show no tendency to use computers less than small firms owned by white men; and (2) Using computers for more business functions and/or more intensively for these business functions can raise the productivity and profitability of small MWEs.

The 1996 passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was the largest federal change in welfare policy in decades. The sweeping federal changes included replacing the old cash assistance program with the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, making assistance temporary through a five-year time limit on federal benefit receipt, changing state funding to a block grant, increasing state program rule flexibility, and enhancing the emphasis on work. Because these changes were so fundamental, there is great need to understand their impact, particularly on the eve of the 5-year reauthorization of the act.