The studies presented in this volume help readers to understand the constraints faced in addressing the key problems within the Brazilian education system. Steps to address the issues and benefits to be gained by addressing those issues are discussed. Forty-two authors reiterate that the success of Brazil's education reform will have an important influence Brazilian society will have in the new millennium. The book documents the poor educational performance of Brazilians and considers the consequences. The 18 studies are divided into four sections. Section 1, "Background and Setting," includes (1) "Education in Brazil: Playing a Bad Hand Badly" (Nancy Birdsall; Barbara Bruns; Richard H. Sabot); (2) "Where Does Brazil Fit? Schooling Investments in an International Perspective" (Jere R. Behrman; Ryan Schneider); (3) "Education and Economic Growth: Some Cross-Sectional Evidence" (Lawrence J. Lau; Dean T. Jamison; Shucheng Liu; Steven Rivkin); and (4) "Why Brazil Lags Behind in Educational Development" (David N. Plank; Jose Amaral Sobrinho; Antonio Carlos da Ressurreicao Xavier). Section 2, "Education and Earnings," contains: (5) "Wages, Schooling and Background: Investments in Men and Women in Urban Brazil" (John Strauss; Duncan Thomas); (6) "Temporal Evolution of the Relationship between Wages and Education of Brazilian Men" (Ricardo Barros; Lauro Ramos); (7) "Do Returns to Schooling Vary Across Industries?" (Donald Robbins; Mari Minowa); and (8) "The Quality of Schooling and Labor Market Outcomes" (Jere R. Behrman; Nancy Birdsall; Robert Kaplan). Section 3,"Education and Inequality," consists of: (9) "Educational Expansion and the Inequality of Pay in Brazil and Korea" (Young-Bum Park; David R. Ross; Richard H. Sabot); (10) "Social Mobility: The Role of Education in Determining Status" (Jose Pastore; Helio Zylberstajn); (11) "Education, Mobility and Growth" (Irma Adelman; Samuel Morley; Christoph Schenzler; Stephen Vogel); (12) "Income and Educational Inequality and Children's Schooling Attainment" (Richardo Barros; David Lam); and (13) "Family Background, Quality of Education and Public and Private Schools: Effects on School Transitions" (Alberto de Mello e Souza; Nelson do Valle Silva). Section 4, "Educational Policy Issues," includes: (14) "Efficiency-Enhancing Investments in School Quality" (Eric A. Hanushek; Joao Batista Gomes-Neto; Ralph W. Harbison); (15) "The Causes and Effects of Grade Repetition" (Joao Batista Gomes-Neto; Eric A. Hanushek); (16) "Private Education and Public Regulation" (Estelle James; Carlos Alberto Primo Braga; Paulo de Tarso Afonso de Andre); (17) "Dealing with Poor Students" (Claudio de Moura Castro; Sonia Dantas Pinto Guimaraes; Joao Batista Araujo e Oliveira; Sergio Costa Ribeiro); and (18) "The Economics of Higher Education" (Jean-Jacques Paul; Laurence Wolff). (EH)