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This study presents new empirical evidence on the role of time trends in low pay persistence. We utilize population-wide tax records to track monthly labour market trajectories of initially low-paid workers. By performing age- and qualification-specific regressions, we find that low pay persistence reduces with time. However, the magnitude is highly heterogeneous across workforce characteristics. For a qualified worker in their early 20s, the risk of staying on low-pay declines by, on average, 5–10% points after one year. For a worker in their 50s, persistence remains almost unchanged regardless of their qualification level. We conclude that policy initiatives need to be more nuanced than a simple one-size-fits-all approach by accounting for time trends in low-pay persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education has wide-ranging benefits to both the individual and wider society. This article investigates the consequences of terrorist incidents on whether households can further their children's schooling. Using both the Global Terrorism Database and Pakistan's Social and Living Standards Measurement, we find that persistent exposure to terrorism significantly reduces the likelihood that parents will continue their children's education. The result suggests, that for every million people, an increase in terrorist incidents causes 26,501 fewer children to continue their education at the primary school education level. We also examine the results by various demographic segments and types of terrorism attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of international labor migration on human capital investment in both hosting and sending countries using an integrated theoretical framework. We develop a two-country dynamic stochastic general equilibrium human capital investment model with international labor mobility, in which both decisions to migrate and to invest in skill acquisition are endogenous. We show that the human capital formation process in the countries of origin is very sensitive to migration policies implemented by hosting countries. Our findings show that human capital accumulation in the sending country is encouraged by the possibility of emigration to higher labor productivity countries, supporting the recent view of the 'brain gain' hypothesis. Productivity shocks hitting the hosting country reduce the human capital investment by natives but increase the human capital investment in the sending country when migration is allowed. Finally, we find that migration increases world human capital, increasing the stock of human capital in both hosting and sending countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This appraisal considers the role and impact of vocational education and training (VET) in Australia and New Zealand, and suggests directions such policy might take in other Asia-Pacific countries. It identifies key issues and constraints in making VET more responsive to emerging labour market needs in the region as an important factor in sustaining high economic growth. It focuses on the way in which the demands of the government, industry, trainees, and, in particular, shifts in political ideology that have influenced the education and training sectors in both countries. It addresses points of specific relevance for the delivery of VET in the broader Asia-Pacific context and concludes with a consideration of lessons and experiences of Australia and New Zealand with VET that may hold for other countries in the region in formulating priorities and implementing strategies in meeting their current and emerging needs for skills development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We analyze an endogenous growth model public educational spending. We show that the balanced budget policy and the policy with a slight deficit yield higher growth than a debt policy where public debt grows at the same rate as GDP, unless the government is a creditor. As concerns welfare, it can be demonstrated that a strong deficit policy yields lower welfare than a balanced budget and a slight deficit policy, unless initial debt ratios are low and the intertemporal elasticity of substitution is high. Finally, there may exist an inverted U-shaped relation between welfare and deficit-financed educational spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many scholars have expressed alarm at the low fertility and sustained immigration that have characterized Italy in the last decade (1.3 children per woman and an increase of more than 200,000 immigrants per year). This article takes a different approach, showing how low fertility and strong migratory balances (involving migration both between Italian regions and from abroad) have enhanced the formation of human capital, facilitating family strategies of upward social mobility, the construction of a more balanced labor market, increases in income and a decline in the graying of the population. The combination of low fertility and sustained immigration, therefore, has been and still is a fundamental resource for development of the population and of Italian society, especially in central and northern Italy. The article also discusses modifications in family and immigration policies suggested by these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a Computable General Equilibrium model to explore the macroeconomic impact of growth in the human capital stock for a given ageing profile of the population in China, during the first half of this century. It examines whether the projected reduction in the total dependency ratio for the period 2000 to the 2030s can be exploited for energetic human capital formation. Policy simulations show that accelerating human capital formation raises both total output and per capita real income dramatically. Public expenditure on education is, therefore, welfare enhancing, mitigating the adverse effects of population ageing while laying the foundation for supporting China's rapidly increasing elderly population. The basic policy message is that China should significantly increase investment in human capital. The long implementation lags of such policies and the rapidly growing proportion of the elderly population suggest that this investment should be undertaken without delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]