Studies differences in social mobility between rich and poor families. Finds that borrowing constraints retard social mobility among the poor by preventing poor parents from investing optimally in their children's human capital. Also finds that sibling inequality appears to be independent of parental wealth. (Contains 18 references.) (Author/PKP)

Investigates educational equity and efficiency of higher education in Argentina. Concludes that despite the fact that public universities are tuition-free, only students from the richest families in Argentina are able to attend universities. Suggests improving higher education equality and efficiency by charging tuition fees and offering selective…

Investigates the impact of family characteristics and local labor-market conditions on the demand for postcompulsory education in Spain. Finds that record levels of youth unemployment did not enhance substantially the demand for postcompulsory education. Parents' education seems to be the main determinant of school enrollment. (Contains 32…

Investigates the usefulness of the schooling coefficient, in equations developed by the human capital theorist Jacob Mincer, in estimating the internal rate of return to education in Sweden. Examines several assumptions underlying the coefficient, for example, that schooling precedes work. Finds that in some cases inference from the estimated…

Uses a flexible modeling strategy to examine the roles of measured ability, family characteristics, and proxies for secondary schooling quality as determinants of the decision to enter college. Finds that the link functions and estimated impacts of ability and family characteristics on the probabilities of enrolling in college are not constant…

Using a large German Socioeconomic Panel data set for the period 1984-98, investigates the wage effects of two different measures of educational mismatch, overeducation and undereducation, when controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. Finds that wages differences between overeducated and undereducated workers totally disappear in most cases.…

Uses data from the National Adult Literacy Survey to examine the relationship between schooling and earnings. Basic skills are partitioned between those acquired through schooling and those acquired elsewhere. Finds that, for the most part, it is the substance of learning in school--the accumulated human capital--that counts, not the credential.…

Reviews the available evidence on the economic benefits of postsecondary education below the level of the baccalaureate degree, concentrating on the effects of community colleges. Results indicate substantial benefits for many kinds of postsecondary education. However, the economic benefits of small amounts of coursework are often zero and at best…

Presents a simple framework for (1) demonstrating how households determine schooling investments through choice and voice; and (2) considering effects of decentralization on household behaviors, given information problems. Some aspects of decentralization may increase efficiency; others may be neutral or decrease efficiency. Further research is…

Examines older adults' support for K-12 education, using a national panel of counties over time. The elderly do have the potential to affect educational spending indirectly through where they live. Support for education spending may depend on how the elderly are distributed relative to children among counties. (Contains 15 references.) (MLH)

Analyzes whether school-based management (a corporate business emphasis) in Chicago public high schools improved performance between 1989 and 1994. Malmquist productivity index results show very little improvement in productivity (measured in test scores, truancy, and graduation rates). Second-stage regression results are slightly more positive.…

This special issue was inspired by Greg Duncan and Saul Hoffman's 1981 article on the "incidence and wage effects of overeducation." These researchers used a Mincer earnings equation to determine that a substantial number of American workers were over- or under-educated for their chosen occupations. (MLH)

Introduces a special issue devoted to education-health linkages. The scope of coverage is quite broad. Papers treat education's connections with specific health-related behaviors, full-time employees' health insurance coverage, medical care/lifestyle choices, nurses' wage profiles, low birthweight children's capabilities, smoking decisions,…

Addresses the separation of human capital studies into distinct fields of education and health. The main difference between the fields may be the ability to measure objectively the value added of health care expenditures, in contrast to the earnings valuation of education. As a result, the two fields (and their literatures) separate theoretically…

Analyzes econometrically the relationship between individual school characteristics and earnings of students entering the labor force directly from high school, using High School and Beyond data. One category of characteristics, school-to-work interventions, is a predictor. Access to labor-market information and substantial work-for-pay experience…