This paper investigates the correlates of student performance in mathematics and dictation tests among schoolchildren in Indonesia. This is the first such study to use a new nationally representative sample of Indonesian primary-school students. Our dataset includes unique data on teacher absenteeism collected through direct observation, the first…

The 2007-10 growth spurt (18 percent over three years) in U.S. undergraduate economics degrees came to an abrupt end in 2011 and 2012. Degrees awarded grew less than one percent over the past two years.

This paper presents a model of educational production that tries to make sense of recent evidence on effects of institutional arrangements on student performance. In a simple principal-agent framework, students choose their learning effort to maximize their net benefits, while the government chooses educational spending to maximize its net…

Using a data-set published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, patterns of demand and supply for higher education courses from 1996/97 to 1999/2000 are analysed. Most universities saw a fall in applications and enrolments following the introduction of tuition fees, although this effect varies across institutions and regions of the…

This paper studies the determinants of age-specific employment rates among Swedish males, focusing on the effect of education on employment. We use cohort specific data for the time period 1984-1996 covering male cohorts aged 21-45. It is found that aggregate age-group-specific employment rates increase with the proportion of the cohort with an…

This paper directly tests for differences in returns to education between the employed and self-employed in Hong Kong. Using a step-function, we find significantly smaller returns for the self-employed, suggesting that in the highly competitive labor market of Hong Kong education plays a signaling role. This pattern persists for both genders, when…

Using state-level panel data, this study estimates a simple achievement function in the fixed-effects format to explore further the nexus between school expenditure and student achievement in the United States. Five main points are noted. First, the effect of per-pupil expenditure is positive and carries high statistical significance in some…

The trend in U.S. undergraduate economics degrees continued its upward trajectory in 2008-9. (Contains 3 tables.)

The Survey of the States is a bi-annual report that documents the state of economic, personal finance and entrepreneurship education in the fifty states (and the District of Columbia), conducted by the Council for Economic Education and sponsored by State Farm Insurance Companies. This report presents summary findings as well as state-by-state…

This article reports on the trends in undergraduate economics degrees from 1991-2006. Undergraduate degrees in economics awarded by U.S. colleges and universities enjoyed an upward trajectory for eight consecutive years from 1997 through 2005. On the basis of the steady climb in economics majors from 2000 to 2005, "Newsweek" (December 26, 2005)…

A general equilibrium schooling model shows that greater school efficiency is complementary with more equal opportunity, increased overall learning, more integration, stable teacher salaries, and fewer course preparations per teacher. Transferring students to area schools with curricula suited to their abilities would secure these ends. (Contains…

Empirically estimates a multiple-product fixed total cost function and output relationship for 295 U.S. private liberal-arts colleges. Statistical results suggest that there are economies of scale and scope in higher education. Research at such colleges is not cost-effective. (Contains 31 references.) (MLH)

Corrects for potential bias and inconsistency in the estimated coefficient on market competition (among schools) by constructing a system of equations with endogenous expressions of student achievement and market competition. Policy makers seeking to improve student achievement should encourage market competition among schools. (Contains 13…

Examines education's influences on Canada's employment, wages, and industrial production, using 1990 cross-sectional, provincially grouped statistical data. Workers disaggregated by educational attainment are substitutes for one another. Capital and all labor groups disaggregated by education are complements. Earnings differentials between better-…

Uses a (spatial-econometric) location weighing variable to examine how starting teacher salaries in one Ohio district are influenced by other regional starting salaries. A $1 increase in a neighboring district generates a $.51 to $.96 increase. Size and distance factors help account for spill-over effects. (Contains 34 references.) (MLH)