Since 1999, one of the main strategies the Colombian government has used to mitigate coca cultivation is to spray the crops with herbicide, which is carried out from airplanes. In this paper I evaluate the consequences of this strategy for rural households in areas where coca is cultivated, specifically the effects of aerial spraying on child…

This paper extends the current literature on access to post-secondary education by investigating the role played by various family background characteristics related to the home environment and family habits and behaviours. Exploiting the extraordinary richness of the Youth in Transition Survey in this regard, we include whether the family ate…

Between March and June 2014, more than 1.67 million students from the 2014 graduating class took the SAT, marking a new participation record for the test. At the request of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the College Board created a special report that allows the association to compare how independent school students fared…

Although there has been significant progress in the long term, achievement gaps among the nation's students persist.Many factors have contributed to the disparities in outcomes, and societal changes can explain progress, or lack thereof, over the past few decades.This is well documented in the 2010 Educational Testing Service (ETS) report…

It is commonly believed that education is a good thing for individuals. Yet, its correlation with subjective well-being is most often only weakly positive, or even negative, despite the many associated better individual-level outcomes. We here square the circle using novel Japanese data on happiness aspirations. If reported happiness comes from a…

Since New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) began publishing tables and charts exploring "Trends & Indicators" in New England higher education more than a half-century ago, few figures have grabbed as much attention as college "enrollment" data. These local, state, regional and national data go beyond simple…

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Great Recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. With a duration of eighteen months, this recession was almost double the length of the average post-World War II economic downturn. Although the worst recession since the Great Depression is now technically over, this analysis…

In contrast to findings of the 1970s that much poverty was episodic, data from an income panel study indicate that the incidence of chronic poverty increased after 1973 and accelerated in the early 1980s. Trends were sharper among African Americans and women than among whites and men. Contains 30 references. (Author/SV)

We show that standard winner-pay auctions are inept fund-raising mechanisms because of the positive externality bidders forgo if they top another's high bid. Revenues are suppressed as a result and remain finite even when bidders value a dollar donated the same as a dollar kept. This problem does not occur in lotteries and all-pay auctions, where…

Forty percent of private pension participants had plans providing benefit increases for retirees during 1978-1981. Increases were usually less than half the rise in the Consumer Price Index. (SK)

One-third of all teenagers were employed during 1997 98. Adolescents were more likely to be employed if one or both parents worked. The average family income of employed teens was greater than that of unemployed teens. Most working adolescents' earnings do not go toward family necessities. (Contains 24 notes and references.) (SK)

Using High School and Beyond longitudinal data for 1980, this paper shows that government subsidized student aid substantially improved access to higher education for low income individuals. The analysis also shows that wealth neutrality (equal probability of college attendance across all incomes) was not achieved. (10 references) (MLH)

Characteristics of hired farmworkers have changed little during the 1990s. These workers continue to earn about 58 percent as much as all wage and salary workers. Data tables and figures present characteristics of farmworkers and all workers: age, gender, race, educational attainment, citizenship, region, earnings, and occupations. (TD)

Recent census data analysis suggests economic inequality greatest among elderly. Worst off 20 percent of elderly (disproportionately unmarried women, minorities, physically impaired) received 5.5 percent elderly's total resources; best off 20 percent received 46 percent. Equalizing effects of Social Security outweighed by private pensions, asset…

Presents data on revenues and expenditures of higher education institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia for fiscal year 1996. Tables break revenues down by source, and expenditures by purpose. (SLD)