This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation trying to explain individual time-to-degree variances with business cycle fluctuations. Assuming that students determine the optimum study length at university weighing up the cost of an additional semester against the consumption benefit of studying and not yet working, the general…

The economic value of investment in education has typically been measured by its rate of return, frequently estimated by the internal rate of return or the earning function approach. Given the importance of the rate of return estimates for individuals and countries, especially developing countries, in making decision on educational investment, we…

This paper considers the effects of a branch campus on the individual college education decision and the economic welfare of a developing country. There are a single domestic college and a single branch campus established by a foreign university. A graduate from the branch campus has an opportunity to emigrate and work abroad, earning a higher…

Combines the concept of self-worth in sociology and educational psychology with economic modeling to analyze the influence of competition on student learning. Finds, for example, that students prone to negative self-worth are motivated not to study hard in courses involving strong competition, thereby adopting a strategy of winning by not losing.…

Description and economic evaluation of the first Spanish education-voucher program: The nursery voucher system in Valencia. Evaluation focuses on equality of opportunity and parental choice. Finds that vouchers allow a number of poor children to be schooled as well as allowing a number of parents to choose the school they prefer. Discusses…

Discusses the theory of microeconomic efficiency measurement, including frontier efficiency-measurement techniques; reviews the research measuring inefficiency in education; discusses the determinants of educational efficiency; includes table listing author, methodology, inputs and output, analytical techniques, and main findings for 28 studies of…

Investigates arguments market analysts employ to persuade investors to purchase stocks in for-profit higher education companies; describes role of market analysts; evaluates relative importance of reasons analysts typically give to persuade investors; compares reasons with modern economic theories of firms and markets and finds them to be…

Presents optimal mix of teaching methods that balances the greater time cost of more active teaching against the increase in quality of learning outcomes. Demonstrates that response of the optimal teaching mix to changes in the learning technology depends on the instructor's (or the university's) utility function. Describes the impact of…

In a review of the purpose and structure of the undergraduate economics major, J. Siegfried et al. (1991) suggested that every student should be required to "do economics" and specifically recommended the development of skills through writing requirements and research-oriented courses, as in a capstone experience. The author describes results of a…

Since January 2000, the authors have experimented with an integrated community-based research-education-service model that combined (1) funded research into the local economic effects of the University of Vermont; (2) a sequence of four semester-long courses to conduct the research and to implement and evaluate key findings; and (3) a…

The author proposes an alternative to the traditional definition of the gains from international trade and, hence, an alternative defense of free trade. Rather than showing that free trade allows a country to consume more of all final goods, the author's approach shows that free trade allows a country to consume the same basket of final goods that…

The authors describe the Business Conditions and Economic Analysis (BCEA) program developed at the University of Richmond. The BCEA program is an experiential learning format for economics students built on the success of student-managed investment funds (SMIF) in finance. In its initial implementation, the BCEA group conducts domestic and global…

Getting a "wrong" sign in empirical work is a common phenomenon. Remarkably, econometrics textbooks provide very little information to practitioners on how this problem can arise. The author exposits a long list of ways in which a wrong sign can occur and how it might be corrected.

There is a difference between the private and social cost of preserving the past. Although it may be privately rational to forget the past, the social cost is significant: We fail to see that classical political economy is analytically egalitarian. The past is a rich source of surprises and debates, and resources on the Web are uniquely suited to…

Fifty years ago what was taught in the principles of economics course reflected reasonably well what economists did in their research. That, however, is no longer the case; today what economists teach has a more nuanced relation to what they do. The reason is that the economics profession and the textbooks have evolved differently. The author…