At the start of 2019, 7 million U.S. jobs remained unfilled, and American employers consistently cite trouble finding qualified workers. While some liberals insist a "skills gap" doesn't exist, all evidence points to the contrary. These gaps are moreover made worse by a higher education system that ill-equips graduates for the workforce.…

Considerable policy and academic attention has been focused on the topic of food deserts. We consider this topic from an economic perspective. First, we consider how the components of a standard economic analysis apply to the study of food deserts. Second, using this economic lens, we revisit the empirical literature on food deserts to assess the…

In Shadish (2010) and West and Thoemmes (2010), the authors contrasted 2 approaches to causality. The first originated in the psychology literature and is associated with work by Campbell (e.g., Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002), and the second has its roots in the statistics literature and is associated with work by Rubin (e.g., Rubin, 2006). In…

A central organizing framework of the voluminous recent literature studying changes in the returns to skills and the evolution of earnings inequality is what we refer to as the canonical model, which elegantly and powerfully operationalizes the supply and demand for skills by assuming two distinct skill groups that perform two different and…

This paper was presented to a meeting of the Wellington Exchange, an international group of higher education officials, in December 2008. One of the topics of the meeting was around the issue of possible skills shortages emerging as a result of demographic trends, with the ageing of the population of developed countries. The paper argues that this…

This article describes four factors that greatly affect the United States' labor market over the coming years. These are: (1) impending baby boomer retirements; (2) ongoing shifts in the country's demographic composition; (3) the greatly increased payoff on postsecondary education; and (4) the direct correlation between technological advances and…

The strategy of the Department for Education and Skills'(DfES) 2002 strategy document, "Languages for All: Languages for Life" called for improving the quality of language teaching and learning; enhancing qualifications and credit recognition arrangements; and increasing demand for language learning. This principle was to extends to…

In fall 2005, Rachel Holt and Adrienne L. Strock's article, "The Entry-Level Gap," ("Library Journal" 5/1/05, p.36-38) became the talk of the town. Holt and Strock argued that the new Master of Library Science (MLS) graduates have trouble finding work because of low salaries and the disappearance of entry-level positions owing to…

This chapter demonstrates how institutional researchers at institutions of higher education can use economic theory for enrollment management. (Contains 4 figures.)

Expresses concern that the dramatic increase in federal support of biomedical research, specifically the doubling of the National Institutes of Health budget, is producing an excess of Ph.D. graduates in biomedical sciences. Suggests that continual increases in program enrollment are primarily driven by personnel needs of the academic research…

An increasing number of people with disabilities live in the community in Australia and internationally. Many of these individuals live in the family home, on their own, in hostels or in the traditional "group home" model, and receive varying levels of support and care. There is a growing concern that many of the care and support needs…

Although this book is about how things work, it is also about flaws in the U.S. economic system. It is difficult to realize that every economic activity gravitates toward monopoly or rebellion against monopoly. This is the subject of the book, which is the result of 50 years of actual experience, informed observations, and trained readings. The…

Analyzes research on superintendent attrition and supply. Refutes popular belief of a crisis in the superintendency. Draws implications for policy and practice. (Contains 50 references.)(PKP)

Many introductory microeconomics textbook authors derive the law of demand from the assumption of diminishing marginal utility. Authors of intermediate and graduate textbooks derive demand from diminishing marginal rate of substitution and ordinal preferences. These approaches are not interchangeable; diminishing marginal utility for all goods is…

The realization of dwindling fossil fuel supplies and their adverse environmental impacts has accelerated research and development activities in the domain of renewable energy sources and technologies. Global energy demand is expected to rise during the next few decades, and the majority of today's energy is based on fossil fuels. Alternative…