Since U.S. economic growth began to slow in 2006, both the Bush and Obama Administrations have enacted a number of fairly costly programs designed to stimulate the economy and employment growth. Because many of these programs are fairly new, there has been little comprehensive examination of their impacts, but initial analysis suggests that these…

Never before has the demand for health care professionals been as great as it is now. But the supply of qualified domestic graduates is not expected to keep up with this demand, thus creating a shortage in most fields. Although the need in nursing is well documented, just as great a need exists in other health care fields: home health aides,…

Individual variation in labor supply can arise from more than just a choice among discrete occupation groups, especially given the joint process of wage determination and time allocation. Other factors can include differential preferences for earnings, the time length of work and other related occupational attributes. Using data from the Wisconsin…

The focus of this paper is on a microeconomic analysis of the annual transition rate from temporary to permanent work of individual workers in Canada for the period 1999-2004. Given that a large proportion of temporary employment is involuntary, an understanding of the factors associated with the transition to permanent work may inform public…

Outlines trends and challenges in job skills development, theoretical links between human capital and economic performance, methodological and measurement problems in analyzing return on investment. Presents case studies of approaches in France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with public policy implications. (SK)

Reducing the dropout rate of Mississippi's public education system from its national high of 42 percent of all students in any potential graduating class to the national average of 10 percent of the class cohort would result in substantial economic benefits to the state far outweighing the related costs, according to this analysis of relevant…

Despite increased government investments in education, West Virginia continues to have one of the nation's highest high school dropout rates and is among the states with the highest unemployment rates. Human capital theory provides the conceptual basis for evaluating the relationship between investment in education and economic development. An…

This book provides a systematic account of the causes, consequences, and policy implications of failure in training provision and skills acquisition in the industrial world. "Introduction" (Alison L. Booth, Dennis J. Snower) summarizes the contents. "Transferable Training and Poaching Externalities" (Margaret Stevens) shows how…

This book examines predominantly rural regions of the United States that lag behind the rest of the country in income, employment, access to services, and measures of education and health. Case studies of nine regions examine historical background; current economic and social conditions (including demography, educational attainment, and…

Examines the role of human capital and labor market characteristics in explaining geographic and individual differentials in socioeconomic outcomes of Puerto Rican women in mainland United States. Human capital plays a larger role than do labor market characteristics in the better socioeconomic performance of Puerto Ricans outside the Northeast.…

The Business Roundtable prepared this paper to: (1) help policymakers and the public better understand the facts about the United States' role in the worldwide economy; (2) offer context and perspective on employment trends; and (3) recommend a package of policies that will stimulate economic growth, foster innovation, create jobs and help workers…

In the classic employment contract, especially at large companies, wages were not strongly responsive to the labor market. Instead, individual companies had distinctive company wage levels and patterns. An exhaustive study of employers and employees in the United States and Japan examined whether the "old employment contract" has been…

Policy options for increasing the earnings of the young welfare recipients were explored by analyzing the incomes of nearly 12,000 young women in Baltimore, Maryland, whose 19th birthday fell between April 1, 1985, and March 31, 1989, and who had at least one spell of welfare dependency between their 19th and 29th birthdays. An analysis of the…

The relationships existing among human capital theory, Australian public policy, literacy education, and the plight of Australia's long-term unemployed were examined. The following topics were considered: human capital theory-based public policies and literacy education; social capital and learning; building and using social capital; the…

In September 1997, more than 900 corporate leaders, educators, work force development professionals, coalition members, employment and training specialists and government officials participated in a conference focused on the new realities in the work force and workplace. The conference featured papers on such topics as the implications of a global…