This paper evaluates the central insight of the consumption capital asset pricing model that an asset's expected return is determined by its equilibrium risk to consumption. Rather than measure risk by the contemporaneous covariance of an asset's return and consumption growth, we measure risk by the covariance of an asset's return and consumption…

Nonprofit organizations play a critical role in U.S. housing policy, a role typically justified by the claim that their housing investments produce significant neighbor-hood spillover benefits. However, little work has actually been done to measure these impacts on neighborhoods. This paper compares the neighborhood spillover effects of…

A model of gradual reputation formation through a process of continuous investment in product quality is developed. We assume that the ability to produce high-quality products requires continuous investment and that as a consequence of informational frictions, such as search costs, information about firms' past performance diffuses only gradually…

Although filmmaking requires substantial capital investment, it is not known whether cinematic creativity is positively correlated with the size of the film's budget. Therefore, budgetary impact was investigated in a sample of feature films released between 1997 and 2001. Although production costs were positively related to box office success (as…

The New Teacher Alliance is a major, multi-year initiative of Washington's Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession (CSTP). It aims to build capacity within participating districts and ESDs (Educational Service Districts), and eventually across Washington state, to provide high quality supports that lead to effective induction of new…

Educational and economic research shows that investing in school preparedness for low- income children prevents needless public spending and produces payoffs in K-12, government programs, and the private sector. Conversely, not investing in or cutting programs that produce school readiness results in increased spending and lost benefits for: (1)…

Beginning in the 1980s, Michigan began making investments in fully preparing young children for school--cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally. Currently Michigan's Great Start system encompasses both early childhood services and a strategic plan for the state's early childhood system of programs, services, and supports for children…

In the early 2000s, a highly selective university introduced a "no-loans" policy under which the loan component of financial aid awards was replaced with grants. We use this natural experiment to identify the causal effect of student debt on employment outcomes. In the standard life-cycle model, young people make optimal educational investment…

A study conducted by "Money" Magazine in August 2006 found that students are not as financially literate as they ought to be. Teachers are now being challenged to find alternative strategies to educate students in the ways of personal finance. One component of personal finance that is particularly challenging is investments. In this article, the…

This paper presents facts and figures of the international higher education. Facts reveal that the UK sells more brainpower per capita than anywhere else in the world. The UK has 1% of the world's population but undertakes 5% of the world's scientific research and produces 14% of the world's most highly cited papers (Universities UK 2010). More…

Governors recognize that promoting school readiness is a key strategy for preventing school failure and subsequent costs to society in the form of remedial education services, health and social services, criminal justice services, and lost tax revenue. Supporting the readiness of young children at risk for school failure is critical to the…

An educated and skilled workforce is critical to Texas' economic vitality and competitiveness. However, Texas' low educational attainment poses tremendous challenges for the future. Rising tuition and limited financial aid also present Texas families and students with considerable barriers in paying for college and postsecondary training. Without…

This report, which is the second annual report on charter schools in California by the University of Southern California's (USC's) Center on Educational Governance, offers a unique view of charter school performance. Using both financial and academic data submitted by school districts to the state of California, this report looks well beyond test…

A system designed to evaluate investment in Ohio's vocational education programs is described in this monograph which also serves as the system manual. Major features emphasized are (1) the system enables calculation of rate of return and of present value of investment in the training of an individual in a vocational program, when education is…

A theoretical and conceptual analysis of techniques used to measure education's contribution to productivity is followed by a discussion of the empirical measures implemented by various researchers. Standard methods of growth accounting make sense for simple measurement of factor contributions where outputs are well measured and when factor growth…