After receiving his PhD in 1970, the author has spent almost 30 years conducting research on the economics of higher education, chairing faculty budget committees at Cornell, serving as a Cornell vice president and then as a trustee of both Cornell and SUNY, and being associated with innumerable national commissions and higher education…

Average faculty salaries differ widely across fields at American colleges and universities and the magnitudes of these field differences in salaries have been growing over time. What is less well known, however, is that at any point in time there are wide differences in the magnitudes of field differences in faculty salaries across academic…

Presents evidence that a trade-off exists between wages and certain characteristics of retirement systems in the public sector. Concludes that pension reform legislation in the public sector will likely have an impact on public sector wages and, therefore, careful consideration should be given to the design of such legislation. (Author/CT)

Data on employees in 168 colleges and universities were analyzed using collective bargaining coverage as an exogenous variable. Union-covered staff enjoyed a 9-11% salary premium. The union/nonunion differential was larger in two-year than four-year institutions, with no public-private differences. Where faculty were union covered, staff had an…

Data on high school students' college choice was used to estimate the effects of attending different college types on labor market outcomes. Even controlling for selection effects, there was strong evidence of a significant economic return to elite private colleges, an effect that has increased over time. (SK)

Analyzing data from 700 New York state school districts, the authors found that school superintendents were rewarded, by salary increases and opportunity to move to better paying jobs, for having low school tax rates and high achievement within their districts. The analysis suggests that superintendents did not significantly influence either the…

This paper tests the hypothesis that the effect of minimum wage legislation on teenagers' education decisions is asymmetrical across family income classes, with the legislation inducing children from low-income families to reduce their levels of schooling and children from higher-income families to increase their educational attainment. (Author)

By last spring, most faculty members at public institutions of higher education were justifiably pessimistic about their likely salary increases for the 2003-04 academic year. Many states were running large budget deficits for the second or third year in a row and no longer had reserves to draw upon to balance their budgets. These shortfalls…

The article presents an econometric analysis of the interrelationships between law school tuition levels, law school quality, law faculty salaries, and the starting salaries of graduates. It then analyzes recent data and concludes that, while tuition increases have outpaced starting salaries, law school attendance is still a good investment.…