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This article introduces original annual average years of schooling measures for each state from 1840 to 2000. The paper also combines original data on real state per-worker output with existing data to provide a more comprehensive series of real state output per worker from 1840 to 2000. These data show that the New England, Middle Atlantic, Pacific, East North Central, and West North Central regions have been educational leaders during the entire time period. In contrast, the South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central regions have been educational laggards. The Mountain region behaves differently than either of the aforementioned groups. Using their estimates of average years of schooling and average years of experience in the labor force, the authors estimate aggregate Mincerian earnings regressions. Their estimates indicate that a year of schooling increased output by between 8 percent and 12 percent, with a point estimate close to 10 percent. These estimates are in line with the body of evidence from the labor literature. (Supplemental information is provided in 4 appendices. Contains 36 footnotes, 15 tables and unnumbered figures.)

A task force was convened to identify the nature, extent, and pattern of skill needs and shortages for managerial occupations in the United Kingdom (UK). The task force began by examining the key challenges facing managers in the UK. The following factors were among those considered: economic policies promoting liberalization and deregulation; increasingly fragmented and global product markets; and technological transformations arising from developments in microelectronics. The demand projections for managers and skills shortages (as demonstrated through recruitment problems for higher-level occupations) were reviewed along with the new skills and competencies demanded of managers. Skills related to the following management roles were detailed: managing operations, managing finance, managing people, and managing information. Each key role was subdivided into units of competence that were in turn subdivided into elements of competence. Performance criteria and range indicators were provided for each element of competence. The following key management roles were added to the original four: manage energy, manage quality, and manage projects. Existing management standards were reviewed and modified to reflect the new roles. Management training and development in schools and small and medium enterprises were discussed along with criticisms that have been leveled against competency-based management development. (Contains 112 references.) (MN)

In response to a shift from the management of curriculum to the management of scarce resources to deliver a changing curriculum, this paper brings together three "value for money" case studies in college administration. The papers identify three levels of activity, ranging from the one-time opportunity for good housekeeping through tactical maneuvers to strategic shifts which are planned and implemented over time. The first case study, "Informing College Thinking: Using Financial Analysis" (Roger Crossley), shows how Hinckley College (England) has been examining its financial base and seeking comparative data from six similar institutions in order to identify relationships between services and costs. The second case study is "Technician Establishment Review" (Bob Kedney and Andy Lightbown, a report of a review of the technician establishment at Woolwich College (England). The review examined the overall numbers and the distribution of posts in the 1993/94 academic year against the background of history and the initiatives set out in the college strategic plan. The third case study, "Space Watching: The Real Time Count" (Trevor Daff), focuses on the costs associated with the buildings at Cambridge Regional College (England). The institution is undertaking a major capital project which radically restructures its facilities. The case studies illustrate ways in which the mantle of incorporation has enabled college managers to take greater responsibility for determining change. (JB)

This study conducted an econometric analysis of the impact of the University of Delaware (UD), a public, doctoral level institution, on the Delaware economy, particularly the impact of nonresident students. To construct a model the study used historical institutional data from the Office of Institutional Research and Planning at UD and macroeconomic data from the Department of Commerce and the Bureau of the Census for the period 1979-91. In applying the model to the 1991 academic year the study noted that 11,235 nonresident and 9,633 resident students attended UD paying $122 million in tuition and fees. During that year UD spent $290 million in operating educational expenditures, of which $194 million were spent in salaries and wages, including benefits. During this period UD employed 3,651 persons and state appropriations were $68 million. This study used a linear regression model with predetermined endogenous variables and with exogenous variables selected from the collected data. The model indicated that in 1991-92, UD students and employees induced $27 million and $60 million, respectively, in wages and salaries in other sectors of the state economy. In addition, the model suggested that nonresident students induced $18 million, of the $27 million, in wages and salaries in other sectors of the Delaware economy. The paper concludes that this analysis method is more usable than the commoner but more complicated models. (Contains 58 references.) (JB)

This study presents an expanded methodology for economic impact analysis to measure the impact of a community college, South Plains College (SPC), Texas, on a specified nonlocal economy. The research had four parts. First an economic impact study was conducted for SPC and its impact on the local economy of Hockley County, where the college is located. Second, existing economic impact analysis methodology was expanded based on a modified Ryan model (a variation of the Caffrey-Isaacs model) to facilitate the estimation of the economic impact on a nonlocal economy. Third the method was applied to the nonlocal economy, Lubbock County, which is adjacent to Hockley County. Fourth, the findings of both impact studies were evaluated to identify differences in method and relative impacts in both economies. The study found that differences in the method rested chiefly in writing the impact formulas and in collecting the impact data. Analysis showed that, in Hockley County, there was a return to the economy of about four dollars for every one dollar of taxes invested in the college, and that Lubbock County experienced a total business volume impact of $21 million. Comparison of impact volume between the two showed that total impact differed by only approximately $86,000. (Contains 30 references and 12 figures.) (JB)

This study examined the collegiate production and cost structures of the 28 universities in Turkey in order to estimate their degrees of economies of scale and scope. Multi-product cost functions were estimated for the collegiate production of teaching and research in order to determine the most efficient level and product-mix for differing types of colleges and for each individual university in Turkey. Three clusters of collegiate fields (social, health, and engineering sciences) were examined across 186 faculties within 28 universities through the use of a four-output quadratic cost function: undergraduate teaching, master and doctoral graduate levels of instruction, and research productivity. At the collegiate level, both ray- and product-specific economies of scale and global economies of scope were estimated. The data suggest that the scale and output-mix are the main determinants of the cost of teaching and research outputs. In addition the findings suggest that: (1) average incremental and marginal costs are generally highest for graduate instruction and research outputs and lowest for undergraduate instruction; (2) of the three fields, social sciences has the lowest costs across all categories and health sciences has the highest; (3) although costs generally follow levels of instruction, there are some significant exceptions, and (4) most outputs have shared resource uses and costs. (Contains 42 references.) (Author/JB)

Women have made slow, steady progress in the labor market since 1979, but the wage gap has not narrowed significantly. This briefing paper updates a September 1987 paper based on "Male-Female Differences in Work Experience, Occupations, and Earnings: 1984" (Current Population Reports, Household Economic Studies, Series P-70, No. 10, issued in August 1987). Current earnings data were drawn from "Money Income of Households, Families, and Persons in the United states: 1987" (Current Population Reports, Consumer Income, Series P-60, No. 162, issued February 1989) and unpublished Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The "wage gap" is defined as the annual female-male earnings ratio for full-time workers. The following highlights are briefly discussed: (1) there is confusion surrounding the actual wage gap because of changes in the way data are gathered; (2) the wage gap was not sharply reduced; (3) some reduction in the gap is due to a decrease in men's real earnings; (4) women's work interruptions for family reasons have little effect on the wage gap; (5) job segregation critically affects the wage gap; (6) Blacks and Hispanics of both sexes continue to earn less than Whites; and (7) women's participation and earnings are up in some but not all occupations. Statistical data are included on five tables. (FMW)

The research on the demand for skills in the U.S. economy is split over the issue of whether technological change has tended to increase or decrease job skill requirements. The question of whether job skill requirements have been rising is important to public policy debates concerning the skill gap, wage inequality, and the changing quality of jobs. Some researchers have attempted to use indirect measures of skill requirements, whereas others have used direct measures and have concentrated primarily on case studies. Neither approach is free of problems, however. A far better data source is job analysis. The job analysis measure developed by Hay Associates is similar to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) measure and includes a series of variables that capture the autonomy and complexity of jobs with respect to areas such as know-how, problem solving, and accountability. The Hay technique of job analyses was used to study the changing skill requirements for production and clerical jobs. The results suggested support for highly significant skill increases in production jobs. The results for clerical jobs, on the other hand, varied significantly by function. Half the clerical jobs examined experienced significant increases in skill needs, whereas the other half experienced significant decreases. Appendices contain data on the Hay technique, a list of production job titles, and graphical analyses of eight jobs. (Contains 83 references.) (MN)

Over the past 4 decades, the number of professional and technical workers has increased by 282 percent, and economic forecasts indicate that this trend of rapid growth will increase. The bureaucratization of the professions, expansion and application of scientific knowledge, and technological change have all fueled a "technization" of the work force. The trend toward an increasingly technical work force has not only necessitated a better educated work force but has challenged the ways in which the work force and workplace are currently conceptualized and organized. The vertical division of labor that has become increasingly dominant in Western society since the beginning of the 19th century is showing signs of strain because technical occupations (referred to as the "new crafts") are becoming increasingly analytic and are requiring ever-increasing amounts of specialized education. In view of these changes, researchers associated with the Program on Technology and Work at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations have undertaken a 5-year program to build a comparative database to facilitate the development of a grounded theory of technical work. (Contains 96 references.) (MN)

This report examines ways of improving women's productivity and education and the consequences for development in Peru. The research finds that women account for about 39 percent of family income in Peru. They carry the main responsibility for child care and heavily influence family decisions on children's education and family size. Improving opportunities for women thus can be a means to foster economic and social development as well as an end in itself. The main way to expand women's opportunities is through human capital investments, notably education beyond the primary level. This will increase women's earning capacity, broaden their labor force participation, and thereby promote economic growth, family welfare, and slower population growth. This report is comprised of seven articles: (1) "The Extent and Impact of Women's Contribution in Peru: A Descriptive Analysis" (M. Schafgans); (2) "Labor Market Participation, Returns to Education, and Male-Female Wage Differences in Peru" (S. Khandker); (3) "Modeling Economic Behavior in the Informal Urban Retail Sector in Peru" (J. Barry Smith; M. Stelcner); (4) "Household Production, Time Allocation, and Welfare in Peru" (J. Dagsvik; R. Aaberge); "Fertility Determinants in Peru: A Quantity-Quality Analysis" (M. Schafgans); (6) "Gains in the Education of Peruvian Women, 1940 to 1980" (E. King; R. Bellew); and (7) "Does the Structure of Production Affect Demand for Schooling in Peru?" (I. Gill). Numerous tables of data, figures, and diagrams appear throughout the report. A lengthy bibliography is included. (Author/DB)

The positive correlation between higher educational attainment and lower unemployment is as strong for females as for males. However, analysis of statistical data on female workers drawn from the National Longitudinal Samples (NLS), and comparison with the findings of an earlier study on the relationship between educational attainment and unemployment for males, point to the following sex differences: (1) educational differences in on-the-job training are related to low turnover among men; (2) educational differences in labor force attachment are related to low turnover among women; (3) educational differences in the duration of unemployment are negligible among females; and (4) educational differences in the duration of unemployment among males are small but observable. Recent growth in women's work attachment has reduced their inter-labor force turnover and their unemployment rate to the point of eliminating the sex differential. On-the-job training of women appears to have increased but it still remains skimpy. Statistical data on 13 tables are included. A list of 12 references and statistical data on five tables are appended. (FMW)

A theoretical and conceptual analysis of techniques used to measure education's contribution to productivity is followed by a discussion of the empirical measures implemented by various researchers. Standard methods of growth accounting make sense for simple measurement of factor contributions where outputs are well measured and when factor growth is exogenous. For education and other forms of producer capital, which are legitimately viewed as intermediate products, the standard techniques seem less desirable. An alternative growth accounting technique, derived using tools similar to those used to analyze consumer's surplus is proposed. A direct analogy with the consumer's case is given. (Author/RM)

An overview of the level and distribution of income for a sample of Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) during the period 1959-1969, using data on pretax pretransfer incomes published by the Internal Revenue Service, is presented in this paper. Several results are described. (1) The level and distribution of income vary widely among the SMSAs. (2) A majority of the SMSAs experience an increase in inequality during the 1959-1969 period. (3) Differences among the SMSAs in both income level and degree of income inequality narrows. (4) Higher rates of growth of income are associated with smaller increases in inequality. While this paper is descriptive, the author hopes that the data set will be useful for testing theories that relate the income level and income distributions of metropolitan areas to their urban problems--for example, whether increases in SMSA crime rates or the incidence of urban riots or urban fiscal problems can be explained by changes in the level and distribution of metropolitan area incomes. (Author/AM)

While static economic theory predicts that most income transfer programs will lead to reductions in the labor supply of program beneficiaries, the theory has nothing to say about the magnitude of such reductions. In order to predict the magnitude of such reductions, the labor supply schedule of potential beneficiaries must be known. In previous papers we presented estimates of the effects of income and wage rates on the labor supply of prime age males and females. In this paper we present and discuss similar results for men and women aged 20 to 24. Probably the most interesting aspect of the labor supply decision of young people is its interconnection with the decision of how much time to spend in school. The importance of the role of education is reflected here. In the first section of the paper we present our basic models, describe the data that we shall use for testing the models and discuss our a priori expectations with regard to the magnitude of (and biases in) the various elasticity estimates. In the second section we present income elasticity estimates for married men, single men, and single women. Similar estimates for married women are presented in section three, while wage and substitution elasticities are discussed briefly in section four. The final section contains a very brief summary and conclusion. (Author/JM)

This paper discusses several concepts and techniques from the areas of systems theory and economic analysis that can be used as tools in an effort to improve the productivity of the educational enterprise. Several studies investigating productivity in education are reviewed, and the analytical problems in conducting cost-effectiveness studies are explored. The paper points out the potential pitfalls in identifying, measuring, and comparing program costs, and addresses the difficulties inherent in assessing program outcomes. Several conceptual models designed for conducting cost-effectiveness studies in education are discussed and the results of a number of empirical investigations employing cost-effectiveness techniques are presented. The conceptual framework developed here views the education production process as a system consisting of four major components--system environment and controls, the school, outputs of schooling, and feedback. (Author/IRT)

Three different analytical approaches to assessing the economic return to be derived from the two-year college degree are examined in this paper. Introductory comments discuss the conditions that gave rise to interest in assessing the economic pay-off of both two- and four-year college degrees. Next, the paper analyzes the economic costs and benefits of beginning work after high school, earning a two-year college degree, and obtaining a four-year college degree, using and explaining the following approaches: (1) constructing an age earnings profile based on census data to trace the path of a person's lifetime income; (2) calculating lifetime income by determining the worth of future income in terms of present dollar values; and (3) establishing the internal rate of return on the investment in schooling. In the next section, the effects of an individual's willingness to incur risk are incorporated into the value calculations. Finally, brief concluding remarks summarize each analytical method and assert that calculating income alone as a benefit of education underestimates the rate of return to be derived from all forms of education. Graphs, tables, and formulas are included. (MPH)

This paper describes an initial effort to provide a carefully reasoned, factually based, systematic analysis of teacher pay in comparison to pay in other occupations available to college-educated workers. It also reports on the sensitivity of these salary comparison estimates to differences in certain characteristics of the labor force, such as sex, age, marital status, and ethnic identity. The data, derived from the individual record file of the March 1983 Current Population Survey of the United States Bureau of the Census, consisted of observations of college-educated salaried workers in the 12 southeastern states: 3,383 nonteachers and 373 public school teachers. Primary analysis of data provides comparisons of average annual wage between teachers and nonteachers, personal characteristics of the two groups, and comparison of average annual teacher salaries for 1981-82 and 1982-83. A regression equation is then used to relate annual earnings of college-educated workers in nonteaching occupations to various independent variables. Results of the analysis show that current teacher pay levels are inadequate to compete with other occupations. Suggestions are made as to the specific salary ranges within which competitive teacher salaries might lie. References are included, along with six illustrative tables. (TE)

This paper proposes a model for the process of attaining occupational status and income, where change in attainment is generated by the creation of vacant positions in social structure. The distribution of attainments, or the structure of inequality, is assumed fixed and described by a simple exponential or geometric distribution function, depending on whether attainment levels are assumed discrete or continuous. Persons leaving the labor force create chains of vacancies in this structure that present mobility opportunities for persons entering the labor force. The implications of the model for the attainment process derived from these considerations for status attainment research and stochastic models for job-mobility are discussed. (Author/JM)

This paper uses data on earnings and education from the 1971 Current Population Survey to test three hypotheses of ethnic achievement and assimilation. The evidence does not support the hypothesis that differences among European ethnic groups have melted away during the three generatioons since the end of the second wave of immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. Statistically significant differences in both education and earnings persist. The differences in earnings have definitely been narrowing over time. However, the differences in earnings do not disappear when ethnic differences in education, location, age and marital status are taken into account. However, the differences that persist are not those that the melting pot hypothesis, or other theories, of social mobility, would predict. The second wave groups, the more recent arrivals from supposedly inferior cultures, in many cases have higher average earnings with and without adjusting for other factors than the first wave groups. Although differences in education and earnings persist among European ethnic groups, contrary to the melting pot hypothesis, these differences completely contradict theories that predict that later groups or Southern and Eastern European groups should do worse than earlier or Northern and Western European groups. (Author/JM)

This paper examines the possibility that returns to various personal characteristics obtained from education differ among five Spanish surname ethnic groups as well as for Blacks and non-black, non-Spanish people (Anglos). Numerous studies have found differences in the returns that Blacks and Whites obtain from education, experience, migration, and other personal characteristics. To measure these differences in return, it is now common practice to run entirely separate regressions for Blacks and Whites; especially significant for policy have been findings that Black-White earnings differences stem not only from lower Black educational attainment, but also from lower Black returns to education. The data for this study came from the 1971 Current Population Survey. It was found that in 1970 returns to education were 30 percent higher for men of Cuban and Central or South American origin than for non-Spanish, non-Black (Anglo) men, Puerto Rican men or other Spanish men. Black and Chicano men had returns of about 70 percent those of Anglo men. These differences are not explained by differences in nativity, mother tongue, years of education, or marital status. Differences in discrimination, quality of schooling, and class origin may be the causes, but data are insufficient to draw firm conclusions. (Author/JM)

Most economists agree that the difficulties of targeting minimum wage increases to low-income families make such increases ineffective tools for reducing poverty. This paper provides estimates of the impact of minimum wage increases on the poverty gap and the number of poor families, and shows which factors are barriers to decreasing poverty through minimum wage increases. A model was developed for simulating the poverty reducing effects of minimum wage increases using wage, employment, hours, and poverty status data from the March 1987 Current Population Survey. Findings indicate that an increase of the minimum wage to $4.35 per hour has a much larger poverty reducing effect than previous research suggests. If accompanied by full coverage and compliance, such an increase would reduce the poverty gap by 13 percent, and the number of poor families with low-wage workers would decrease by nine percent. However, the resulting unemployment of some workers could reduce the poverty-reducing effects. Ten tables of statistical data are included. The appendix contains two additional tables showing a sensitivity analysis of the effects of changes in the minimum wage, with full coverage and compliance, and with the coverage and compliance unchanged. (FMW)

This paper examines the distribution of economic well-being from 1980 to 1984, and compares economic changes during that period with those of other periods. The following indicators of economic change are used: (1) money income consistent with a Census definition; (2) money income net of direct taxes--i.e., disposable income; and (3) disposable income plus government in-kind transfers. It was found that the period 1980 to 1984 differs from earlier periods by displaying an accelerated trend to greater inequality. Gains achieved by those at the top of the income distribution are more attributable to a redistribution of resources than to economic growth. These results are borne out regardless of the measure of economic status or the unit of observation chosen. Benefits went disproportionately to those at the top of the distribution of resources, and burdens fell disproportionately on those with lower incomes. A breakdown of the 1980 to 1984 period into periods before and after 1982 suggests that the recession has been more disequalizing than the recovery. But the recovery did not reverse the trend, only mitigated it. Data are presented on eight tables. Appendices present the results of a microsimulation model and analyze inflators. (BJV)

Existing research evidence on the ability of several kinds of public policy used to increase labor force attachment among the disadvantaged indicates that (1) policies for reform of the U.S. welfare system do not substantially help the problem; (2) increasing child support payments would have essentially no effects on the work effort and earnings of their recipients, who are predominantly female heads of households; (3) policies concerning work and training programs for the disadvantaged, including those requiring welfare recipients to work, are directed most toward disadvantaged women and do not benefit substantial numbers of disadvantaged men; (4) programs for the subsidization of wage rates and earnings that have been studied have not had the desired effect because employers have tended not to participate in them; and (5) if women's child care expenses were reduced 10 percent weekly due to government subsidization, the employment rate of married women should increase by about 3 to 4 percent, representing a large increase in the employment rate of women in the United States. The paper recommends the following: (1) place more emphasis on assistance to disadvantaged men; (2) expand and strengthen job training programs for males and focus additional Job Training Partnership Act resources on the most disadvantaged males; (3) strengthen the training opportunities in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Unemployed Parent program, which affects males and which will be mandated in all states by 1990 under the provisions of the Family Support Act of 1988; and (4) strengthen the training opportunities for men receiving benefits in the Food Stamp Program, the only universal transfer program in the United States. (32 references) (CML)

Utilizing a data file extracted from the University of Michigan Survey Research Center's Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines the work experiences of a national sample of non-aged heads of households. This data source, which describes heads of households and structural characteristics of labor markets, is unique in that underemployed heads of households indicate whether their part-time working status is voluntary or involuntary. Among the heads who were employed during 1971, 15% were part-time workers in the sense that they worked, on average, less than 30 hours per week and/or no more than 40 weeks per year. Findings of this study indicate that 54% of these part-time workers were involuntarily underemployed, willing but unable to devote more time to gainful employment. Furthermore, household heads who were involuntarily underemployed in 197l constituted a clear majority of all non-aged heads who were (1) unemployed (58.0%) and (2) recent labor force dropouts (55.5%) during the spring of l972. These heads of households are, when working, concentrated in low wage jobs. (Author)

This study addresses questions such as (1) the extent to which formal training determines occupational mobility, (2) evidence of racial differences in the returns to formal training in terms of occupational advancement, (3) importance of structural factors representing labor market segmentation in determining occupational mobility, (4) the impact of employer shifts on occupational advancement, (5) existence by race of differential returns to mobility between firms. Results indicate a strong relationship between occupational advancement and formal vocational training for both racial groups. Structural factors represented by initial industry and region of residence are found to have little or no effect on advancement. A more important factor is considered to be the white-black difference in endowment of education. No evidence for a racial differential in the impacts of industry and geographical shifts on occupational mobility is found. No evidence to support the hypothesis that black turnover fails to result in upgrading because of their confinement to secondary sector jobs is indicated. (Author/AM)

A descriptive overview of international, cooperative research efforts is provided. Transnational collaborative research consists of those activities that bring scholars of different countries together to work on the same or common research problems that cannot be addressed as effectively by an individual nation. This report offers a sampling of programs and projects in progress during 1973 and 1974. Topic areas under examination include agriculture, development, atomic energy, commerce, environment, health, education, space, and the humanities. Six major advantages and six limitations to current transnational collaborative research are listed. To improve further research it is recommended that all interested public and private agencies be informed of the potential values of this research; flexibility be provided in programs and budgets to encourage sound proposals; and case studies of allegedly successful and unsuccessful projects be accumulated, analyzed, and shared with the relevant research community. (Author/DE)

Recent change in the life cycle processes of educational, occupational, and earnings attainments among blacks native to the South, native to the North, and among black migrants from the South to the North is analyzed. Native northerners begin from relatively superior social origins and are better able to capitalize on these processes in the attainments of education and occupation than are either southern-born group. Between 1962 and 1973 the stratification experiences of the northern-born blacks rapidly converged with those of the white majority so that by 1973 their system of stratification was more like that of whites than of southern-born blacks. The processes of status allocation among the southern-born in 1973 were like those of northern natives in 1962. In this sense the integration of blacks into the majority stratification system began first and has proceeded furthest among blacks born in the North. Men living in the North, regardless of nativity, enjoy higher earnings than men living in the South. In all, changes over the recent decade have supported the internal differentiation of the black population, the development of more distinct socioeconomic strata, the greater stability of inequalities between generations of blacks, and gains toward socioeconomic integration. These changes have been more characteristic of the North than the South. (Author/JM)

An analysis of the argument that a market imperfection (wage differentials and queuing caused by unions) raises the marginal social product (MSP) of college education above the average before-tax private wage premium (APP) for college (this discrepancy is called a union-Q-nality) focuses on verifying five hypotheses: (1) Workers with identical productive capabilities are paid more in unionized industry and this is a market distortion, (2) there is a negative correlation betweeen years of college and industry unionization, (3) college graduates do not take union jobs away from high school graduates, (4) from 1950 to the present, there has been a negative association between an industry's unionization and the size of its wage premium for schooling, and (5) relative wages are more flexible in the nonunion sector of the economy. The author, in narrative and tabular detail, examines the association between unionization and education of the work force as well as skill differentials and industry unionization; derives a formula for the MSP for a multisector, multi-input economy having a union wage differential and varying flexibility of relative wages; presents empirical specification and results of a regression analysis of 1968, 1973, and 1974 Current Population Surveys (CPS) supporting hypotheses 2, 4 and 5; and calculates the social return to schooling and compares it to private return. (EM)

When effects of Proposition 13 are taken as a whole, the amendment will have an insignificant overall effect on the nation's economy. The property tax cut will stimulate consumer spending somewhat and lead to a lower price level because property taxes are a part of the housing component of the consumer price index (CPI). These economic stimulants, however, will be balanced by necessary cutbacks in state and local spending that should depress the economy. More precisely, Proposition 13 will cause (1) marginally lower levels of real economic activity through the first half of 1978 and marginally higher levels by mid-1980; (2) an employment loss of about 60,000 by the end of 1978 that will gradually diminish; and (3) a reduction in the CPI of .2 percent by the end of 1978 and .4 percent by mid-1980. The proposition will cause only slight increases in federal revenues, as smaller federal property tax deductions balance the lower income tax collections resulting from the measure's depressive influences. Total federal expenditures will not be significantly affected. If similar propositions spread to a large number of states, the net effect could be a slowdown in economic activity and employment growth, unless tax reductions are at least twice as large as the accompanying expenditure cuts. (Author/JM)

The world economic situation is beset by growing worker dissatisfaction, slowing economic growth, and rising energy and resource costs. A partial solution to these problems may be worker participation in management and ownership. As production has become more dehumanized and workers have become increasingly dissatisfied and alienated, the quality of their work has suffered. To offset this malaise, various experiments have been conducted to improve the quality of work life and to give workers a voice in management decisionmaking. While workers in the U.S. often use unions to express their views, in other nations they hold seats on boards of directors and have formed work councils for this purpose. Ownership by workers may be either indirect in the form of investment funds and employee stock ownership programs or direct in the form of co-ops. It is difficult to generalize about the economy-wide impact of worker participation because of the lack of controlled experiments and long-term data. However, it appears that participation certainly does not harm productivity and probably improves it. Presently, worker participation is at different stages in countries around the world due to variations in cultural backgrounds and histories. (ELG)

The history of state government debt in North Dakota can be divided into three 30-year periods which should be interpreted in terms of the political, social, and economic conditions of each period. The early statehood period of 1889-1918 began with the use of debt to construct facilities necessary to carry out the normal functions of state government. Although total expenditures increased because of tremendous population growth, per capita expenditures declined significantly. During the second period (1919-1949), population continued to grow but at a decreasing rate. Farmers' organizations were successful in having laws passed to regulate railroads, elevators, mills, and grain dealers. During the Depression years, debt grew, and North Dakota's bond rating was lowered. During World War II, state debt was reduced without undue strain on the taxpayer. The third period (1950-1978) saw prosperity and public construction. Data were analyzed and indicated: (1) regionalization of bond ratings and debt outstanding; (2) differences and similarities among economic variables within the North Central Region of the United States; (3) North Dakota in the North Central Region; and (4) determinants of the amount of state debt outstanding. Data analyses are appended. (SM)

A major benefit of education is the lower risk of unemployment at higher educational levels. Analysis of statistical data on the white male labor force drawn from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) indicates that the reduction of the incidence of unemployment is far more important than the reduced duration of unemployment in creating educational differentials in unemployment rates. The lower unemployment incidence of the more educated workers is due equally to their greater attachment to the firms employing them and the lower risk of becoming unemployed when separated from the firm. The lower frequency of job turnover of more educated workers, which creates fewer episodes of unemployment, is in large part attributable to more on-the-job training. The following factors may explain the lower conditional unemployment of educated workers and the somewhat shorter duration of their unemployment: (1) more educated workers appear to search for new employment while already employed, which is less costly than searching for employment while unemployed; (2) more educated workers are more efficient in acquiring and processing job search information; and (3) firms and workers search more intensively to fill more skilled vacancies. Statistical data on seven tables are included. Discussions of two of the equations used in the analysis and a list of 24 references are appended. (FMW)

An extensive survey of empirical research on education as related to poverty, growth, and income distribution is presented, with the focus on 21 developing nations. The study uses the latest available data on alternative measures of income distribution, income shares of various population groups by income classes, and poverty ratios. The analysis confirms some existing theses on the role of education in improving income distribution. Part *Economic Factors; Poverty; research on the relationship between education and economic growth, poverty, and income distribution; part three examines selective dimensions relating to the role of education in improving poverty and income distribution; part four includes the report summary and conclusions. Statistical information is presented in 25 tables and figures, and a 16 page bibliography is included. (Author/NL)

A partial survey of the literature on the economics of vocational training reveals three important lessons on how evaluations may be undertaken using data on pay, inputs, and outputs. The first lesson is that social, corporate, and private returns to vocational training in developing countries appear to be high enough to justify expanding training activity. However, training in industrial institutes and vocational secondary schools is less cost-effective than more formal firm-based training, at least in Kenya, India, and Israel. Also, Latin American data indicate that school and formal institutional vocational training may be substituted for one another. The second lesson is that in some sectors a more labor-intensive method of production is economically more effective than current methods. This may, in turn, imply the need for more--not less--skilled labor and vocational training. Further, given technology and output, unskilled and skilled labor appear to be substitutes, rather than complements, in the production process. The third lesson is that sophisticated function analyses are plagued by statistical and measurement problems. If they are not resolved, estimation techniques are unlikely to be able to pick up any relationship between trained labor and output among firms. However, there are alternatives. Many input and output measures such as performance rating and downtime are available for more modest evaluations. Training can be evaluated using earnings data or output and input data. In all cases, there are technical problems including sample size, control groups, the use of longitudinal data, and difficulties caused by labor mobility. A simpler before/after plant level study of changes in inputs or output associated with training may offer the most tractable evaluation. (112 references.) (Author/CML)

Opinions on how the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) can better meet the data needs of users of government-provided labor market data were sought from users inside and outside government. The following recommendations, among others, are based on those opinions: (1) create a quick-response household survey capability at the BLS, using random digit dialing supplemented by a purchase list for households without telephones or a list area frame; (2) start a new youth cohort for the National Longitudinal Survey; (3) appropriate $200,000 annually to integrate the richness of the National Longitudinal Survey database into the ongoing functions of the BLS; (4) construct data tapes that contain the matched records of individuals using existing cross-sectioned files, thereby creating from existing information an entirely new source of longitudinal information on the labor market behavior of individuals; (5) develop methodologies to correct the biases inherent in the Gross Flow data, with the goal of making these data generally available; (6) create a panel of households that would be interviewed over a long-term basis using the monthly Current Population Survey instrument; (7) investigate the possibility of constructing an archive of unemployment insurance wage records; and (8) study the efficacy of conducting surveys that match both workers and firms. (25 references) (CML)