By embracing education as an economic development tool, policy makers adopt a new economic metaphor--a new way of understanding how the economy works and identifying determinants of development. Development policy has shifted focus, from providing incentives for the accumulation of physical capital to emphasizing investments in human capital. Most…

A majority of adults in most Alaska Native villages were without jobs in 1990, and the situation was probably not substantially better in 1998. This report summarizes current Alaska Native employment data and employment trends, provides information on public and private programs that target Native hire, and describes promising approaches for…

The Child Care Action Campaign (CCAC) is a national nonprofit advocacy organization whose goal is to improve the lives of children and their families by expanding the supply of good quality, affordable child care. This publication summarizes remarks made by presenters at a CCAC audio-conference on the recruitment and training of welfare recipients…

In the 1980s and the early 1990s Congress failed to approve enterprise zone legislation which sought to help revitalize areas of high unemployment, poverty, and crime and low educational achievement by reducing taxes, relieving regulation, and eliminating other barriers to development. Establishment of comprehensive and sustained enterprise zone…

Despite 6 years of economic growth, California's workforce investment system faces the following challenges: (1) meeting the needs of workers who do not earn enough to bring their families significantly above the poverty level; (2) meeting the needs of employers who face continuing shortages of workers with needed skills; and (3) meeting the needs…

The effectiveness of state enterprise zone programs was examined by using a hypothetical-firm model called the Tax and Incentives Model-Enterprise Zones (TAIM-ez) model to analyze the value of enterprise zone incentives to businesses across the United States and especially in the 13 states that had substantial enterprise zone programs by 1990. The…

Vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies are required partners in the one-stop system mandated by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA). The following features have long characterized VR: the primary goal of integrated competitive employment for persons with disabilities; state flexibility in VR systems, approaches, and structures; case…